Hyundai Xcent sales drive past 250,000-unit milestone

Hyundai Motor India has just chalked up a new sales milestone, thanks to its first sub-four-metre sedan – the Xcent. Launched on March 12, 2014 after the India reveal at Auto Expo 2014, the Xcent has crossed the 250,000-unit sales milestone in the domestic market.

As per Autocar Professional’s statistical data, as of end-October 2019, the Xcent has chalked up sales of 251,953 units – 151,368 petrol and 100,585 diesel variants and a 60:40 petrol-diesel model split. The car’s best annual performance came in FY2015 when it totted up sales of 62,605 units (see table below) but after that sales have seen a decline year on year.

It may be recollected that engineers at Hyundai’s R&D centre in Hyderabad and at Namyang, Korea, collaborated to develop the Xcent right from concept stage through to the final product development stage. The Xcent, which was squarely aimed at the Maruti Dzire and the Honda Amaze, with pricing starting at Rs 466,000 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), about Rs 20,000 less than the Dzire and about Rs 30,000 less than the Amaze at the time. April 2017 saw the Xcent get its first facelift, which saw it get an all-new front end with the new signature Hyundai grille that is both wider and taller than the pre-facelift version. 

The Hyundai Xcent, which was also designed to be an export model from India, has over five years seen 129,913 units being shipped to overseas markets (see table below).

Next-gen Aura compact sedan coming 
Meanwhile Hyundai has confirmed that it won’t retain the Xcent name for its all-new compact sedan. This new-gen compact sedan has been named the Hyundai Aura, and is set to be launched in the coming months. While the Aura is the successor to the Xcent in Hyundai’s product portfolio, the Xcent will not be discontinued.

Hyundai will be taking the wraps off  the new Aura compact sedan at a world premiere on December 19, 2019. Being a global model, the car will replace the Xcent compact sedan in some markets as well. The Aura is based on the Grand i10 Nios premium hatchback that made its India debut on August 20 this year and is already on sale in many countries.

Cognisant of the fact that the Xcent is extremely popular with fleet operators in India, Hyundai is expected to offer it in lower-spec trims for commercial-use buyers only. This will ensure that the new Aura compact sedan does not get the tag of a cab. 

What this also means is that the Xcent will receive a significant update in 2020. Not only will its engines be upgraded to meet BS6 emission norms, but the Xcent will also be updated to meet the pedestrian protection norms that come into effect from October 2020. Meeting the pedestrian protection norms will entail sheet-metal changes, which will give Hyundai the opportunity to facelift the Xcent for a second time in six years since its launch. Another positive for the Korean carmaker is that from April 2020, the Maruti Dzire diesel will no longer be available, leaving the compact diesel sedan field open for the Xcent.

The current-gen Xcent will continue to be sold as the Xcent Prime, in petrol and CNG guise, aimed mainly at cab and fleet operators and will rival the Maruti Suzuki Tour S that is based on previous-gen Dzire sedan. 

Also read: Top 10 Passenger Vehicles in October 2019