Hyundai Exter takes the carmaker back to its roots in India. But does it pack a Punch?

Hyundai has addressed the safety concerns by equipping the Exter with six airbags and electronic stability control (ESC) as standard features, even in the base variant.

Hyundai Exter | Kushan Mitra, ThePrint

Every decade or so, shifts occur in consumer patterns across many industries, and the automotive industry is no different. The compact sedan was born in the early 2010s, thanks to a loophole in how cars were taxed—vehicles under four metres in length paid lower excise duty.  You must have seen thousands of these sedans on roads. The Maruti-Suzuki Swift Dzire was a runaway success, and remains one of India’s top-selling cars. But the market has shifted again.

And it has shifted to what I would describe as the boxy Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) body style. According to manufacturers, one in every two passenger vehicles sold in India is considered an SUV or a Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV)—both classified by the Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM) as Utility Vehicles. In fact, according to the latest wholesale data released by SIAM, out of the 9.96 lakh passenger vehicles sold in India in the first quarter of this financial year, 5.46 lakh were classified as ‘Utility Vehicles’.

Tata Motors has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of this shift in consumer preferences, and one of its best-selling models is the Tata Punch. At just above 3.8 metres in length, this ‘sub-sub compact’ SUV has been alone in its segment and has the sales figures to show for it—moving between 10-12,000 units monthly for the past few months. But the Punch now has a Korean rival, the new Hyundai Exter. Hyundai, whose number two position in the Indian auto market has been challenged by Tata Motors over the last year, is not mucking about.

Hyundai’s comeback

For one, Hyundai has increased production capacity at its plant in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur. Now, it produces 8,20,000 units annually as opposed to the earlier 7,65,000. With Exter, the company has also gone all out to answer criticism on the safety front. For years, Hyundai’s ‘Made-In-India’ cars have been criticised for receiving only three stars in crash tests conducted by the Global New Car Assessment Program (GNCAP). However, Hyundai has addressed these concerns with its Exter model—by equipping it with six airbags and electronic stability control (ESC) as standard features, even in the base variant. Hyundai has also extensively incorporated higher-strength grades of steel in the Exter’s body structure. Hyundai India executives are quietly confident about the Exter’s performance in GNCAP testing. And this will be under a new, stricter testing regime that includes a side-impact test.

But all these features will make no difference if the Exter doesn’t offer an enjoyable driving experience. So, on the media drive outside Jaipur, I took the Exter up to the impressive Jaigarh Fort. This fort, part of a triple-fort complex including the Royal Fort at Amer and the outpost at Nahargarh, functioned as a barrack for the Jaipur Army. It also houses the massive Jaivana Cannon, the world’s largest cannon during the Early Modern Era. You can drive right into the fort after paying a small fee. But to get there, you must drive down a narrow, serpentine hill road. The Exter proved surprisingly agile on this road, able to take sharp turns on a dime.

Compact but better

That said, I was driving an Exter variant fitted with Automated Manual Transmission (AMT). While AMT gearboxes are much better than they were a few years ago, they are still slightly slow. To address this issue, Hyundai India has put a paddle gearshift system on the steering wheel, something that is typically found in far more expensive cars. While not required when you’re pottering along in chaotic traffic in a city like Jaipur, this manual intervention proved to be a welcome addition on the road to the fort. Sure, the 1.2 litre naturally aspirated engine with 83PS of power is not a massively powerful unit, but it is more than enough for a car like this.

Hyundai has definitely worked on the exteriors of the vehicle. The ‘Ranger Green’ colour Exter especially stands out, with its sculpted side profile, the signature ‘H-shaped’ running headlights and taillights, and alloy wheels. And I would dare to say, it looks even better than some of its bigger siblings from Hyundai.

As for the interiors, the Exter does the job it is meant to do very well. Remember, the Exter will sit below the Venue in Hyundai’s line-up.

The rear seats are comfortable enough for a couple of adults for a longish drive, and there is enough luggage space for a few medium-sized suitcases. This is not what one would describe as a ‘family car’; it is meant for either single people or young couples who go for occasional fully loaded journeys.

The higher-specification models, especially the SX(O) Connect, variant that I was driving, comes loaded with multiple features. One of these allows you to control certain functions through voice commands in English and multiple Indian languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. With the multi-information display in the instrument cluster showing information in all these languages, Hyundai has ensured that the Exter appeals to as wide an audience as possible.

Back to its roots

Hyundai India can be accused of having moved upmarket over the past decade, especially with the success of the Creta and the Tucson. This shift may have led some to believe that the Korean company has forgotten its roots as a value-for-money small car manufacturer; the Exter is a clear attempt to reclaim those roots.

The variant I was driving, the fully-loaded, dual-tone colour-scheme ‘Connect’ with AMT, has an ex-showroom price of Rs 10 lakh. While the entry-level Exter, with a manual, costs about half as much, consumer preferences in India are clearly skewing to top-end models with all the bells and whistles.

So, is the Exter a ‘value-for-money’ option? Well, it is a great car, and since cars are getting expensive, I like its price point. The compact size of this car makes it perfect for commuting in an increasingly crowded urban environment. But it will likely be a second car in many households rather than a first for 20-something fresh graduates. For that audience, Hyundai continues to have the Grand i10 Nios.

@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.

(Edited by Ratan Priya)