The first month’s sales and bookings numbers for the Hyundai Alcazar are in. The carmaker claims that it has received a token amount for more than 11,000 units. Out of the lot, over 5,600 specimens have already found takers. That’s since its launch on June 18, 2021. Hyundai also confirms that 63 per cent of the bookings are for diesel-powered variants, and one-third of the total account for range-topping Signature trims.

Now, some of those facts and figures are tough to understand. So, let’s get some prices into the mix. Sticking with the Signature trims, 33 per cent of the customers are ready to pay at least Rs 18.71 lakh, plus taxes, for an Alcazar. And then, going to the diesel-fed variants, they cost between Rs 16.53 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.

All diesel derivatives come with the same 1.5-litre engine that also powers the Creta and the Elantra. It puts out 113bhp and a maximum of 250Nm of torque. In other words, not even close to what the rivals offer. The other option is a 2.0-litre petrol unit that produces 157bhp/191Nm. That’s more than what one gets from the same engine in the Elantra and even the Tucson. When the car launched, we thought most would prefer the petrol engine over the diesel. But, here we are!

As time passes, Hyundai will have more insights for us. That’ll include further bifurcation of how many chose an automatic variant and the count for those settling for a six-seater version. Whatever the case be, the Alcazar is off to a promising start. In India, it competes directly with Tata Safari and MG Hector Plus. The soon-to-be-axed XUV500 offers a similar but dated recipe. That said, Mahindra will replace that with the XUV700, which is scheduled to debut later this year. Knowing what Mahindra did with the Thar last year, revealing it on August 15 and launching it on October 2, will it do the same with the XUV700?