The Hyundai Motor CIS (HMCIS) sold its 3,00,000th Solaris model in the Russian market this week, which is an important milestone the company has achieved within just 33 months of launching the product in the Russian market (that is 9000 units a month on an average). The Solaris, which is the Verna to the Indian market and Accent in the European and American markets, is a great value for money proposition with enormous amounts of gadgetry on offer.
The Hyundai Verna was launched in early 2011 and the product developed an instant liking with the Russian masses right from inception. By January 2012, Hyundai managed to sell over 100,000 units in the Russian market which in itself was a huge achievement, but the numbers didn’t stop there itself with the 200,000th mark coming up by the end of 2012. The Solaris which is in its third year managed to continue bringing in the numbers, achieving the 3,00,000th mark this week. This was a momentous feat for the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Russia (HMMR) where the car is locally produced.
The Hyundai Solaris received a mild update in mid-2012 and that only added to the popularity of the sedan. The sedan comes with 1.4-litre and 1.6-litre engines, with manual and automatic transmissions on offer. It is available in sedan and hatchback versions in the Russian market. The Solaris is priced at 4,60,000 Rubles (Rs. 8.5 lakhs) for the base trim going all the way to 6,90,000 Rubles (Rs. 13.2 lakhs).
The Solaris is the second bestselling car in the Russian market, losing the top spot to the home grown Lada Granta sedan. The car has also won the coveted “Russian Car of the Year” award consecutively in 2012 and 2013. Hyundai as a company too has been doing extremely well in the Russian market. The Korean brand along with its sister concern Kia recorded 13.8 percent of total new car sales in Russia in the first half of 2013 and there seems to be no slowing down for the companies. Apart from the Solaris, Hyundai also sells the Elantra, i30, Equus sedan, Genesis coupe and the Santa Fe SUV in the Russian market.
Hyundai India has been clocking around 4000 units of the Verna month on month, which has been steady over time even with the introduction of compact SUVs in the similar price bracket. The car has been ruling over C-segment sedans, overthrowing the Honda City and the Volkswagen Vento. Overall too, Hyundai has been doing well, and now with the Grand i10 diesel the company only expects the sales numbers to rise.
