Hyundai rolls out motorsports-inspired N Line brand to woo millennials

The Korean auto major has also formed a Millennial Board of young executives – that has representatives across its functions – with an objective of gaining credible insights and in-depth understanding of the ‘millennial’ generation and accordingly craft its strategies.

Even with the N Line range, the company received significant inputs from these young executives on how to seed the brand, target customer, and communicate through animated content, officials said.

“Younger buyers are different from a conventional buyer. Going forward, they may become the biggest set of the car-buying population, and hence one needs to offer a complete mobility solution as against restricting it to the volume segment,” Tarun Garg, director (sales, marketing and service) at Hyundai Motor India, told ET.

Overall, the objective is to target buyers in the 25-35 years age group with this new range of performance cars. The average age of Hyundai customers at present is 38 years.

The company has conducted extensive market research to understand the requirements of the new-age customers, officials said.

Key findings that emerged from the studies include that the Indian millennial buyer is tech savvy and likes fun-to-drive cars high on features that are different and unconventional, and where the buyer can customise the vehicle with different accessories options.

With average age of the consumer on a slide, Hyundai has seen the proportion of sales of from feature-laden top two trims across its models increase in the last two years. The top two trims now account for 92% sales of the Verna, up from 80% two years ago, 47% of the Creta (from 44%), and 36% of the i20 (from 18%). Customer preference to accessorise vehicles too has risen, growing 92% in the last two years.

Hyundai plans to roll out range of cars under the N Line brand, and is exploring N Line versions of Venue and Creta, officials said. Globally, the company has 10 N Line range of cars, with approximately 100,000 units sold annually.

The i20 N Line will be sold through the company’s 188 Signature outlets spread across 97 cities.

In terms of numbers, the N Line range may not bring in large volumes, but is will be a brand shaper and address specific needs of the buyer, Garg said.

The introduction of N Line range of products is another step in the direction to build beyond conventional car market play. To be sure, Hyundai was one of the early entrants into electric vehicles as well as subscription, leasing and cab aggregation segments. It is building these spaces gradually, bit by bit.

“We want to be in mobility space for everybody,” Garg said. “The consumer needs are changing very fast. Hyundai has always tried to be one step ahead to be ready to serve their needs.”

Hyundai has transitioned from a small car specialist to an SUV leader over time and it has appealed to a diverse set of customers, he said. “It has only been possible by constantly searching for ‘what new?’, ‘what next?’, (and) keep investing in the future,” Garg said. “Our parent HMC (Hyundai Motor Company) has a lot of options for us to choose from.”