Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), which is celebrating 20 years of operations here, said it will strengthen its presence in the emerging and new segments of passenger vehicle (PV) market.
Hyundai Motor is preparing to roll out a hybrid car, introduce variants powered by new AMT (automatic manual transmission) technology and a sub-4 metre compact SUV.
These are in addition to the two new products the company aims to introduce every year. While HMIL, the second largest passenger vehicle manufacturer after Maruti Suzuki, has 10 models now, it aims to launch at least two-three more all-new models to fill the gaps and strengthen its presence.
“The new hybrid car may come at the right time in the mid-segment, while a compact SUV will be rolled out in a couple of year’s time,” said YK Koo, Managing Director & CEO, HMIL at its factory near Chennai.
He elaborated that India government’s push towards green mobility and improving eco system was spurring the opportunity to look at launching a hybrid car in the Indian market.
New SUV model Enthused by robust response to its SUV Creta, the company will strengthen its presence in the compact SUV segment with a new model.
“Share of compact SUVs continues to grow in the overall UV market and it accounts for about 60 per cent of the total UV volumes. The segment will continue to record higher growth than other categories due to changing buyer preferences,” he added.
The company also sees growing preference for AMT variants in the country. With a new AMT technology, Hyundai wants to catch up with competition and grow the sales.
It is also preparing to ramp up the production of Creta to take advantage of the strong demand for its compact SUV. “It is definitely a perfect SUV for the Indian buyers, while it has been well-received in all BRICS markets too. With the proposed capacity increase from June, the waiting period for Creta will come down from 4-5 months to 2-2.5 months,” Koo said.
He also stated that the Supreme Court ban on large diesel cars was impacting the sales of other diesel models too. But, Hyundai does not expect any major dent in its sales.
The company has seen its domestic sales grow by eight per cent at 1.62 lakh units during the first four months of this calendar year when compared with a year ago period. It says it has increased market share by 100 basis points to 16.9 per cent during the period.
Export hub
Koo said the Indian arm contributed 13 per cent to Hyundai Motor Corporation (HMC) by volume and was functioning as a strong global production and export hub for small cars for HMC, exporting to 92 countries.
Beginning with just 20 cars in 1999, the company has exported over 23 lakh cars out of India till March 31, 2016. He also said the company had set out a vision for the next two decades and that includes achieving market leadership, becoming a trusted brand, emerging as a modern premium brand in the mass segment and becoming a great place to work.
HMIL has set a target to sell 6.65 lakh units in 2016 against 6.43 lakh units in 2015.
Of the total number, it aims to sell about five lakh units in India, while the rest will be exported.