Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Monday launched new Creta, which received 14,000 bookings and nearly 50 per cent of the customers opted for diesel.

The Korean auto major invested around Rs 1,000 crore in the new product, which is made in India for the domestic and global markets.

SS Kim, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India, said that since its launch in 2015, Creta has become the benchmark SUV for India buyer. Over the last five years, the company got over 467,000 customers in India and 193,000 global customers for Creta.

"Creta revolutionised the perception of SUV in India. Offering buyers, a car that meets their aspirations & lifestyle needs, the Creta became an icon of Style, Substance and Performance," said Kim.

"The six key pillars are masculine and futuristic stance, intuitive experience and comfort, advanced connectivity, smart technology, powerful and efficient next-gen BS6 powertrain, Hyundai assurance. All New Creta is the result of Hyundai’s ultimate science of human engineering, said Kim.

The all-new Creta has been created using Smart Manufacturing techniques and optimal use of Industry 4.0 to offer customers the pinnacle of manufacturing excellence. It has been built as a Superstructure and based on Hyundai’s Global Design Language of ‘Sensuous Sportiness’, making it future-ready to rewrite history.

"I am confident that we will once again create a new Benchmark in the Segment with all-new Creta, and make it the favourite SUV of our Valued Indian Buyers, said Kim

He said, 2020 will be a crucial year for the auto industry. With new safety and emission norms, the auto industry will change the perspective of ‘Made-in-India’ cars. All the Hyundai cars will meet the safety standards and BS6 emission norms.

"Amongst the many firsts to our name, Hyundai has also been the first to introduce Connected Car Technology in the SUV segment. We see this trend gaining traction amongst new-age customers & we are working rigorously to introduce more such innovations on our models," said Kim.

"In the current challenging business environment, we want to enhance and offer unique buying experiences for our valuable customers. At Hyundai, we are striving to further our unique customer engagement initiatives by implementing digital platforms such as ‘Click-to-Buy’ that offer a seamless customer purchase journey," said Kim.