Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motors recently announced that they plan to introduce new models across all segments in the Indian auto market. Hyundai intends to do this with the aim of changing it image as a small car manufacturer. Hyundai also wants to sustain its 20% market share in India.
According to reports, the company wants to boost its situation in the upper mid-sized sedan market. The subsidiary of the company Hyundai Motor India Ltd. is focusing on the Indian auto market in spite of facing difficulties with a production capacity of six lakh units. They also plan on shifting part of their export sales to India. The CEO and President of the company, S.S. Yang said that HMIL is an important part of their company. HMIL has kept its pace in the growing Indian market and they plan on offering more of their products in India.
As the company wants to change its small car image, it will be bringing in models across all segments, which include premium, mid-size and small car segments. Right now, the Indian market is a priority for them and they have supported the Indian auto market with their new models and technology, adding that they will carry on bringing in new technology.
Hyundai, has profitable Indian operations, and have invested around $1.8bn so far in India. They are currently investing Rs.400 crore for setting up a diesel engine facility over here. HMIL currently sells the i10 and Santro, the premium i20 hatchback, mid size sedans Verna and Accent, the SUV Santa Fe and the Sonata Transform premium sedan.
Sales from the Indian market added about 8% to the company’s global sales which were 36 lakh units in 2010. The market share of HMIL fell from 20.61% to 18.10% in the FY’11. The company is hoping to regain their lost market share and sustain it.
Yang said that they would like to keep their Indian market share at 20%. However, their production capacity is just around 6,00,000 units in a year. In a bid to handle this situation, they will focus more on the Indian auto market. They will do so by shifting part of their export volumes to its domestic market after the opening of two more plants in Russia and Czech Republic for meeting their European market demand.
In 2010, the domestic sales of HMIL saw an increase by 23.1 percent, selling 3,56,717 units, while its exports from India decreased by 8.5%, exporting around 2,47,102 units. The HMIL, Director of Sales and Marketing, Arvind Saxena said that the company had a capacity of producing around 6.6 lakh units per annum form their two plants located in Chennai, and they do not require more capacity for the coming two-three years.
He reportedly said that the company has set a target of selling around 4 lakh units this year in the domestic market, while they expect their export sales to fall by 2.25 lakh units.