Hyundai India has officially taken the covers off their new global SUV at a media event in Chennai. To be slated against the established Duster and Maruti’s upcoming S Cross, the Creta is the segment’s first SUV with a combination of a diesel engine with an automatic transmission. Scheduled to be launched next month, the SUV will also be introduced in Hyundai’s European market.
With this Hyundai has also confirmed the engine options for Creta. It will be powered by an option of three engines – one petrol and two diesels. The petrol is the 1.6 litre gamma dual VTVT, which is highly familiar with Verna lovers, and produces a maximum power of 123 PS. The torque has not been mentioned but it is expected to be the same as in the Verna which is 155 Nm.
The diesel engines have also been borrowed from the Verna, which include the 1.4 litre U2 CRDi and 1.6 litre CRDi U2 mills. The most interesting bit is this – Creta will become the first diesel automatic compact SUV in India and the autobox will be plonked on the 1.6 litre diesel but we have no confirmation yet whether it is the same 4 speed unit as seen in the Verna or not.
Creta is based on the Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design philosophy. The front grille is a singular hexagonal unit studded with chrome. The company claims that they have focused their energies on safety. The body structure has been made of high tensile steel. The pillars, body side frames and bottom are positioned in a ring-like layout, all connected to form a protective shell, lending the SUV stiffness, precise handling and rigidity.
The Hive structure, as Hyundai calls this architecture, also includes a reinforced roof structure with multiple cross members for enhanced strength and more loading capacity. The company goes on to claim that the Creta has low NVH levels thanks to optimization of dash panel, centre floor tunnel, anti-vibration pads and dash insulators.
Being a true blue Hyundai, Creta boasts of a hefty features list. It gets 17 inch diamond cut alloy wheels, projector head lamps with LED positioning lamps, smart key with push button start, rear air con vents, 5 inch touchscreen infotainment system with 1 GB memory. The car includes a set of 6 airbags including side and curtain airbags, ABS, ESC and reverse parking camera.
Sadly though, Hyundai is not offering a 4 wheel drive system which would have been greatly appreciated. Expect the car to sport an aggressive price tag to take on the established competition.
