Hyundai May Bring Subcompact Crossover, but It Won't Be Creta

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

Hyundai is looking to jump into the subcompact crossover fold in the States with the Nissan Juke, Honda HR-V, Chevrolet Trax and everyone else, but it won’t be with the Creta, Edmunds is reporting.

The Creta recently went on sale in India, but executives in America told Edmunds that it wasn’t the right fit for U.S. buyers.

“We have decided to wait a little bit longer to get the right vehicle,” said Dave Zuchowski, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

The Creta would enter an already crowded field of subcompact crossovers that’s getting more crowded every day. Already the HR-V, Trax and Juke duke it out with the Jeep Renegade and Subaru XV Crosstrek, with the Mazda CX-3 on its way this year. (EcoSport, Ford?)

According to Zuchowski, the Creta was too conservative for the segment and too closely resembled a smaller version of the Santa Fe.

“In our opinion, as we go into this segment, it is a great segment for Millennials, for Gen Y. It is a good youth vehicle and we think in order to tap that market, the thing should be styled less conservatively and more aggressively,” he said.

Last month, Hyundai released a rendering of the Creta that would have fit the “aggressive” bill, but as always many features didn’t make it into the production version.

Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • DeadWeight DeadWeight on Jul 24, 2015

    With exception of Santa Fe & Genesis Sedan, Hyundai has really lost its competitiveness compared to Honda & Toyota. Hyundai used to offer 75% of the refinement and 70% of the reliability (but maybe 60% of the durability) of Honda or Toyota for 70% of the price. Now, Hyundai offers 85% to 90% of the refinement, and 80% of the reliability (and maybe 75% of the durability) for 95% to 105% of the price. In other words, your average Elantra, Tucson, Sonata, etc. will cost as much or more than a Corolla, CR-V, Accord/Camry, without the reliability, while foisting an awful dealership and service experience on the customer.

  • Signal11 Signal11 on Jul 24, 2015

    Right. Youthful buyers. Like that young market they were aiming at that got more grey haired Baby Boomers into the seats of Kia Souls than Millenials.

  • Statikboy Statikboy on Jul 24, 2015

    The only things aggressive about that rendering are the chopped roofline and the trubs, which are seemingly on every new car rendering.

  • Tosh Tosh on Jul 24, 2015

    I used to have a Creta that I refer to as my "ex-Creta."

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