Could Hyundai PH be launching a new car this year?
Is Hyundai PH hinting a new car launch soon?
If you head over to the Hyundai Philippines page, it seems that they posted a teaser photo. Sure, it doesn't show a car, but it does hint at a new model. After all, it says, “See You!”, at the bottom of the picture. This got us thinking; what could they be launching this year?
Let's take a look at Hyundai's international line-up. The all-new and updated models over the past 12 months are Aura, i20, i30, Elantra, Sonata, Grandeur, Creta, Venue, Kona, Tucson, and Santa Fe. Among the 11 models, which one is the most likely to land here soon? Let's sort it out one by one, shall we?
Looking at the teaser, it seems that Hyundai Philippines is hinting at a car with squarish LED daytime running lights. If that's the case, that eliminates most of the models mentioned above. But could it be the company's way to throw off those trying to guess the car? Even with that factored in, there are some models we can pluck out from the line-up.
For instance, the Aura is made exclusively for the Indian market, while the i20 and i30 are primarily for Europe. The Sonata and Grandeur are unlikely to land here given that big sedan sales for Hyundai had all but dried up over the years. Also, the Tucson and Santa Fe are still too new to be launched in the Philippines. That leaves us with the Elantra, Creta, and Venue.
If we base it on the lights seen in the teaser, we can eliminate the Elantra in the list since it sports a triangular set of daytime running lights. Now we're down to Creta and Venue, and both are good candidates for a local launch.
The Creta, also known as the ix25, is made in either China or India. Given that Hyundai sources the Reina from there, they could expand their China-made range locally. Meanwhile, the Venue has a wider market reach as it's sold in its home market, large parts of Asia, Europe, and the Americas. That said, the square lights in the teaser photo are making us lean more towards the Venue.
Either way, both these models slot below the Kona in the brand's current product range. Should one of these models launch here, that gives Hyundai Philippines will have a total of five crossover models.
Perhaps Hyundai is gunning for a crossover under Php 1,000,000, as its prime competitor, and sister company, Kia, is launching the Stonic soon. If Hyundai wants a bigger slice of the crossover market, they should price the Venue or the Creta under the one million peso barrier. After all, they wouldn't want to take sales away from their other subcompact crossover, the Kona.
