SUVs to account for 65 per cent of total volume sales in 2024: Hyundai

SUV sales: The South Korean automotive maker Hyundai Motor Company expects the sales of its diesel engine vehicles to reduce to nearly 30-35 per cent in 2024, down from the present 40 per cent.

Hyundai Motor Company's India arm aims to generate 65 per cent of its total sales from sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in 2024, a segment that has fuelled the rise of passenger vehicle (PV) sales.

"Our SUV penetration will be around 65 per cent in 2024 and then I think we’ll fall in the range of 65-70 per cent, but not cross it," said Tarun Garg, COO at Hyundai Motor India, citing media reports.

"Diesel used to account for 60 per cent of our sales at its peak, with petrol accounting for 40 per cent, but now the trend has reversed with diesel accounting for 40 per cent, which is good and in line with the industry direction," he said

"This year, it seems that 38-40 per cent will be diesel, but because of our new turbo petrol engine, some diesel volumes may shift to that and diesel may account for 30-35 per cent of our sales," he added.

“We will need to be much more flexible because there are so many variables at play which makes it difficult to project a powertrain mix. We are not a major player in EVs but a leading EV player is saying it’s difficult to have a target, so we are making our production lines very agile to quickly adapt to customer demand," he said.

The automotive giant is presently focused on making their production lines meet customer demands quicker in a move to help the firm meet their sales targets.

Hyundai on Tuesday launched the facelift model of its top-selling mid-SUV Creta in the ex-showroom price range of Rs 11 lakh - Rs 20 lakh.