A month after Toyota introduced the GR version of the Corolla Cross, Hyundai launches its sportier style utility vehicle, the Creta N Line. The strategy is the same: to offer a product with a different design from the other versions and a firmer adjustment of suspensions and steering system.
At the same time, Fiat announces that its next model will be called Fastback. It will be a coupe-style SUV, the type of bodywork that is in automotive fashion. The brand had already confirmed the arrival of the Pulse Abarth, scheduled to debut at the end of this year.
This is a new wave in the urban compact utility segment, which really emerged in 2003, with the launch of the Ford EcoSport.
At first, the brands had no direct competitors. It was years before the first rivals made in Brazil emerged, but today all companies offer jeeps in their portfolios.
Then the variations on the same theme begin, and this path has already been taken by premium brands.
In 2010, BMW’s X5M and X6M SUV duo took the top two positions among the fastest cars of the year in the Folha-Mauá Ranking.
They were opulent, expensive and impractical, in addition to costing what today would be equivalent to almost R$ 1 million. But they became consumer dreams in Brazil in the last decade, when 10 of the 10 best-selling cars were popular models with a 1.0 engine.
The difference between them was in the rear. While the X5 brought the more square style of classic jeeps, the X6 came with that sharp and rounded drop in the roof, similar to the profile of sports coupes.
What happened 12 years ago helps to understand the current movement of automakers. The more SUVs become desirable, the more companies bet on new models and their versions, in different price ranges.
There’s a lower ceiling here and a more digital dashboard there, all to “add value”. The target is profitability.
The Hyundai Creta N Line had its price revealed this Wednesday (8): R$ 159,500. That’s R$ 10.7 thousand more than the Platinum version, which until then was the most expensive with the 1.0 turbo flex engine (120 hp).
According to the manufacturer, the “N” refers to the South Korean district of Namyang, home to the brand’s global development center, and also to the German Nürburgring racetrack, which houses the automaker’s technical center.
Standard items include a panoramic roof, LED headlights, new 17-inch wheels, multimedia system, autonomous braking system (in the event of an imminent collision) and air conditioning with automatic temperature adjustment.
In addition to Hyundai and Fiat, Caoa Chery and Honda will have news in the SUV segment.
While the brand of Chinese origin will present the hybrid versions of its utilities next week, the Japanese company has set for the beginning of August the presentation of the new HR-V.
The strategy of filling the stores with jeeps has paid off. In 2022, six of the 10 most licensed passenger cars until May have this type of body.
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