Trojan War

It’s raining SUVs, and has been for quite some time. This means that choosing the right one for you can be tough. So, to make things easier, we’ve pitted a pair of the latest entrants – the MG Hector and Tata Harrier – against the best-seller, the Hyundai Creta.

- Arup Das

For the first quarter of this financial year, Indian automobile sales figures have hit an 18-year low, but even in these challenging times, manufacturers continue to bet on the SUV segment, which has grown to become the second-largest sector in the market – after hatchbacks, of course.

Since the beginning of this year, we’ve witnessed a slew of SUV launches, but still the Hyundai Creta continues to be the king of the hill – a position that it’s enjoyed ever since its launch in 2015. In an attempt to dethrone it, many have either disappeared without a trace or have simply become insignificant. After four years of laughing all the way to the bank, it now has two serious contenders – the Tata Harrier and the recently launched MG Hector – not to mention another one on the way in the form of its cousin, once removed, the Kia Seltos. Kia, after all, is part of the Hyundai Motor Group, and will launch its first model – which just happens to be in this segment – in the third week of August. But more on that in a future review.

The models that we’ve tested for this comparison are the Hector 1.5-litre petrol automatic, the Creta 1.6-litre petrol automatic and the top-of-the-line diesel variant of the Harrier, since the Harrier comes neither with a petrol motor nor an automatic transmission. So, will the competition manage to finally wipe the smile off Hyundai’s face? That’s exactly the question we have in mind for this comparison.

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