Venue dropped from local Hyundai lineup, replaced by Creta?

Those in the market for a subcompact crossover SUV will have one less choice when shopping as Hyundai Motor Philippines, the company now handling the Korean automaker’s passenger car and light commercial vehicle lineup in the country has dropped the Hyundai Venue from its lineup.

As a recap, the Hyundai Venue was introduced by Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the brand’s previous local distributor back in October 2020, well into the first wave of the global pandemic, with an affordable price of Php 915,000 to Php 985,000.

Despite the very affordable price tag, it still came well-equipped with features like a striking exterior design, 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, automatic climate control, and six airbags. It is also good to note that the local Venue units were sourced directly from South Korea, Hyundai’s home market.

Sadly, sales of the Hyundai Venue never took off as the pandemic affected the company’s supply chain as it did with other brands. Despite local marketing efforts, units were scarce so dealers could not sell to customers. The biggest problem though this time around is that production of the Venue would move to India.

Since the Philippines enjoys a free trade agreement with South Korea, only 5% of import taxes are imposed on vehicles. If the Venue would be sourced from India, import duties would rise to 30%. This would bring the Venue’s former SRP of less than Php 1-million to more than Php 1.5-million. That’s around the price of the gasoline-powered variant of the larger and better-equipped Tucson. That would also make the Venue more expensive than the Creta subcompact crossover which HMPH has already introduced in the market with a starting price of Php 998,000 and topping-out at Php 1,332,000.

Logic would state to a customer that he or she should purchase the more affordable Creta as it was newer and more equipped for a more affordable price tag. That’s why it was best for HMPH to discontinue the model instead.

Regardless, the Hyundai Creta seems to be a very good choice at face value with a good list of equipment depending on the variant such as halogen or LED headlights, daytime running lights, 17-inch alloy wheels, and an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system. The top-spec variant even comes with driver-assist tech such as Blind Spot Collision Avoidance Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Forward Collision Avoidance Assist, and Lane Following Assist.