New Hyundai Creta vs Kia Seltos: Which SUV Wins The Bookings Race?

The second-gen Creta is slated to be launched in India on March 17

Update: Hyundai has launched the second-gen Creta at Rs 9.99 lakh (ex-showroom India). To know more details about the new Creta, head here.

• Hyundai opened bookings for the second-gen Creta on March 2, 2020, for a token amount of Rs 25,000.

• It will come with three BS6-compliant engines: two petrol and a diesel.

• The new Creta will be offered with a few segment-first features such as paddle shifters and a panoramic sunroof.

• Expected to be priced between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 17 lakh.

The pre-launch bookings for the 2020 Creta have crossed the 10,000 mark in less than 10 days. Hyundai had opened bookings on March 2 for a token amount of Rs 25,000. To put things into perspective, the Kia Seltos had managed to rake in over 6,000 bookings on the first day itself beating its Hyundai counterpart. Having said that, 10,000 bookings for the Creta in under 10 days is still an impressive number - one that could get better in the weeks to come.

Hyundai will offer the second-gen compact SUV in a total of five variants: E, EX, S, SX, and SX(O). It will come with three BS6-compliant engines: a set of 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines along with a 1.4-litre turbo-petrol unit. As far as transmission options are concerned, Hyundai will offer the 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines with a 6-speed manual as standard. While the 1.5-litre petrol unit will also get a CVT gearbox, the diesel motor will be offered with an optional 6-speed torque converter as well. Hyundai will offer the 1.4-litre turbo-petrol unit with a 7-speed DCT gearbox. The output figures of the 1.5-litre petrol, 1.5-litre diesel, and 1.4-litre turbo-petrol are 115PS/144Nm, 115PS/250Nm, and 140PS/242Nm respectively.

The second-gen Creta will get a few segment-first features such as paddle shifters, remote start for manual variants (connected car tech), and a panoramic sunroof. It will also come with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, an updated IRVM with hotkeys for the connected car tech, a 7-inch semi-digital instrument cluster, an air purifier, electronic parking brake, and a drive mode selector. Hyundai will offer the second-gen Creta in a total of ten colour options. While the second-gen Creta will get some additional features when compared to the Seltos, the latter is feature-loaded as well and gets certain features over the new Creta.

We expect the new Creta to be priced between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 17 lakh. It will continue to fight it out with the Kia Seltos, Renault Duster, Nissan Kicks, and some variants of the MG Hector and Tata Harrier. The Seltos is currently the sales champion of the compact SUV segment and has long dethroned the outgoing Hyundai Creta. It remains to be seen whether the 2020 Creta manages to regain the top position given how the Seltos has established itself.

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