If there’s one car that has a phenomenal role in changing the landscape of the Indian car market for the last 5 years, it has to be the Hyundai Creta. The mid-SUV is one of the most popular cars in India not just in its segment, but across all the segments. But have you ever wondered what goes behind the making of this uber-popular SUV? Now that Hyundai has launched the All-New Creta that promises to be the ultimate SUV, we got an exclusive preview of the making of the new Creta at the Hyundai's Chennai plant. We also got to see the cabin of the Hyundai Creta in detail.
The Hyundai Creta started the mid-SUV culture in India back in 2015 and has gathered more than 4.5 lakh buyers, making it one of the most sold SUVs of India. To offset the growing competition, Hyundai has now introduced the all-new Creta that promises to be bigger and better than the old model and it will be manufactured at the company’s plant in Chennai. The Hyundai Chennai plant has been rolling out cars since 1997 and has an annual capacity of 7.5 lakh cars. Not only the cars for the domestic market, has the Hyundai’s Chennai plant also rolled out export vehicles, making Hyundai the largest car exporter of India.
Hyundai plant has 13 shops and 12 models are made here. Earlier, a new car was rolled out every 4 minutes, which is now only 33 seconds. Like all the other Hyundai cars, the manufacturing of Hyundai Creta follows the same procedure. The Creta SUV starts as a steel coils that is stamped at the press shop, which is the initial process of making a car. At the press shop, heavy dies with the design imprinted are pressed on the steel sheet that gives the initial shape of doors, fenders, chassis and more.
In the last 23 years, Hyundai has used the steel coil for 9 million cars that is equal to 4 times the circumference of the earth. 3D Scanning of every model is performed to check the minutest of crack. These individual panels are then taken to the next stop called the body shop. The final outer shell of the vehicle rolls out here with the designated paint work. The panels are then welded using spot welding robots to form the shape of a shell. There are more than 4500 spot welding per car. It’s interesting to see so many robots perform a synchronized dance moves converting mere panels to a body.
These out shells are then sent to paint shop. There are 10 paint options one can choose from. Simultaneously, in other shop, the engines are assembled. Hyundai Creta will get 3 engine options, 1.5 litre petrol and diesel engine units and 1.4 litre turbo petrol unit, which is been added to Creta for the first time.
These engines and the chassis of the Creta than meet at the Assembly shop. The assembly line is a continuously moving line where various sections perform fixed job. Right from the engine to suspension, electrical wiring, dashboard and seats, all are fitted at the assembly shop, with each worked assigned to do their duty. Once the final car is rolled out, it goes for a drive test in the inbuilt test track and a shower test that mimics India’s monsoon and checks for any leak inside the vehicle.
Lastly, a pre-delivery inspection or PDI, as it is called is performed to check for any irregularity or defect in the car, before they are dispatched to dealers across India. And not just a plant visit for Creta, but we also got a chance to see the cabin of the All New Creta for the first time.
We also got a chance to spend some time with Hyundai Creta. While we saw the vehicle itself at the 2020 Auto Expo, where it made its global debut, it was only exterior oriented. The All New Creta looks rather unique from the rear end which gets connected tail light design. The front also gets new bigger headlamp unit with a two ford design. The car looks more premium than before.
As for the cabin, we checkout both the mid and top spec variant of the all-new Creta and what radical changes Hyundai has made to the new model. While the mid model gets a big infotainment system and new steering wheel along with a waterfall central console, the top spec model now gets a panoramic sunroof and a even bigger touchscreen infotainment system that supports Hyundai connected technology called BlueLink. The combination of light and dark themed elevates the space inside the cabin. The boot space is also generous. We will be soon driving the all new creta to bring you out first drive experience.
Stay tuned and subscribe to www.youtube.com/news18auto to get the video as soon as we drive it.
Comments
0 comment