Hyundai hit quite a sweet spot with the Venue. Unveiled in April 2019 in the USA and India simultaneously, the subcompact SUV had a lot going for itself. And that has resulted in high numbers for its maker in India. So much so that by the time the calendar reads 2020, Hyundai Motor India claims the Venue would have surpassed 100,000 bookings. That’s impressive for a product for which the carmaker officially started accepting bookings at the beginning of May 2019.

The Venue’s success in India has not gone unnoticed by other developing markets around the globe. And, predictably, they want a piece of the action too. So today, the India-made Venue will begin its innings in South Africa. The first shipment, as per the company, has a total of 1,400 units. Hyundai Motor India will export the Venue to other right-hand-drive markets like Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius and Seychelles. For the time being, the sole powertrain heading to the countries mentioned above comprises of the 1.0-litre, turbo-petrol engine and the 7-speed DCT. Hyundai’s Indian arm is also developing the Venue for left-hand-drive markets. The finished product is expected to land in the African, Gulf and Latin American regions.

In the May-Nov 2019 period, bookings for the Venue in India crossed the 90,000-mark. Out of the 60,000 units already delivered, about 22,000 units featured Hyundai’s BlueLink technology. That, if you are unaware, is the company’s platform that brings over 30 connected-car features. The list includes live traffic information, alerts for geo-fencing and overspeeding and emergency assistance. The bookings count surpassed 17,000 before the end of May 2019, and 33,000 in the last week of the following month. The reservations breached the 50,000-mark and the 75,000-mark in July and October 2019, respectively.

One crucial ingredient in the Venue’s fantastic start is the fact that Hyundai still hasn’t dissolved the introductory price list. In all probability, that will get a considerable hike when all the powertrains get BS6-compliant. And that will have to happen before the calendar reads April 2020. The same holds for Venue’s arch-rivals too, including the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Ford EcoSport, Mahindra XUV300 and the Tata Nexon.