Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) finished the 2018-19 financial year on a high note. Compared to FY 2017-18, it posted a growth of 1.7 per cent in the domestic market, 5.3 per cent in exports and 2.5 per cent overall. The real highlight amongst those figures is the jump in domestic market sales. HMIL sold more units locally than ever before. In other words, its performance in the domestic market was the best-ever.

Do you want the dirt? Okay then! In FY 2018-19, the domestic sales, exports and overall numbers stood at 5,45,243, 1,62,105 and 7,07,348, respectively. In comparison, those numbers in FY 2017-18, in the same formation, were clocked at 5,36,241, 1,53,943 and 6,90,184. Now break out your calculators and do the math!

How about HMIL’s performance in March 2019 over the same month last year? In India, the South Korean carmaker’s numbers dropped by 7.6 per cent. However, the export numbers received a bump by 34.4 per cent, taking the overall growth up by 1.1 per cent. March 2019 was a challenging month for several carmakers in India, primarily because of the upcoming elections and weakened consumer sentiments.

Hyundai is currently gearing up to unveil its first-ever sub-4 metre SUV – the Venue. It is destined to break cover on April 17, 2019, at this year’s New York International Auto Show. Slotting below the Creta in Hyundai’s India line-up, the Venue is tipped to bring a bunch of segment-first features such as ventilated seats. However, the most intriguing feature will be the ‘Hyundai BlueLink’. With it in place, the Venue will become India’s first-ever “Connected Car” in the mass-market space.

The Venue will look like a shrunken Kona EV, which is also India-bound via the CBU (completely built unit) route. In all likelihood, the zero-emissions SUV will launch later this year. Apart from that, HMIL is also working to introduce the next-gen Grand i10 before 2019 comes to a close.