Hyundai Motor Co. sold more than 50,000 cars in India last month, the highest monthly sales since it entered the market 18 years ago riding on the popularity of compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) Creta tailored for Indian drivers.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. said last Tuesday in a press release that it sold 50,016 cars in India in October, up 6.4 percent from a year earlier. Including exports, it shipped a record number of 64,372 units worldwide, up 4.3 percent from the same month last year.

Hyundai Motor that made a foray into India in 1998 saw its sales in the country surpass a monthly sales milestone of 50,000 units four years faster than it did in the United States in 2008, where it took 22 years. India became Hyundai Motor’s third largest overseas market with its sales exceeding 50,000 units, following the United States and China.

It took less than 15 months for the Korean car maker to see its monthly sales in India to surpass 50,000 units after its monthly sales topped 40,000 units for the first time in the country in August last year, suggesting rapidly growing popularity for Hyundai brand in the country.

India with burgeoning auto demand backed by the country’s solid economic growth has become one of the most crucial markets for the Korean automaker struggling with losing presence in the domestic and international markets. The company’s local shipments in the country reached 476,001 units last year, exceeding its shipments to Europe of 470,130 units in the same period.

Its fast-paced growth in the Indian auto market is mainly driven by brisk sales of its compact SUV Creta that is specifically customized for local customers. The Creta sold 79,541 units in India in the first ten months this year, making up 18 percent of Hyundai Motor’s total sales in the Indian auto market. It is the best-selling SUV in India that sells more than 10,000 units a month locally and at overseas, said a company official.

Demand for the All New Elantra (also known as Avante in Korea) has also remained high since its debut in India in August, partly helping boost the company’s overall sales in the country. Currently, buyers must wait four to five months to get their orders for the All New Elantra.

By Park Chang-young

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]