Hyundai Creta, the Korean brand names its most compact SUV

Hyundai appears to be advancing at a faster pace than expected in the development of its new global segment B SUV. The head of its American division, Dave Zuchowski, stated in the summer of 2014 that its launch in the West was planned for 2017. But yesterday the Korean brand released a statement specifying its official name and a launch in Asia scheduled for this 2015, signs that foreshadow an early arrival in Europe.

As it already did with the Tucson, which replaces the ix35, this smaller SUV will also swap its alphanumeric combinations for a name inspired by geography. The place name it has chosen for Hyundai is Crete, the largest of the islands belonging to Greece.

The South Korean manufacturer explains that it based its decision on a specific similarity between this SUV’s character and the history of Crete. Once a route of communication and trade between Africa, Asia and Europe, the aforementioned car will take on the mission of giving Hyundai access to new customers in regions and a segment where it was not yet present.

Hyundai considers Crete an option that is easy to remember and to associate with the concept of “creativity“, one of the pillars of its current corporate philosophy, as well as with the outdoor recreational activities for which the Greek island is known. The brand has announced that sales will begin in India during the second half of 2015, with arrival in more markets over the following months.

Company executives noted some time ago that this SUV will distance itself aesthetically, mechanically and technically from the ix25 it unveiled at the 2014 Beijing Motor Show. We will see whether it keeps the promise better than a similar one it made regarding the new i20, which in the end resembled the Asian variant more closely than it had implied at the time.

Source | Hyundai