Hyundai India would introduce a new car model every year

In the highly competitive Indian market, Hyundai Motor is going to introduce one new car every year.

Mr. Han-Woo Park, Managing Director & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., talked about his company’s future plans to a group of visiting Indian journalists over a buffet dinner at an Indian restaurant at Itaewon, Seoul’s shopping district.

India is one of the biggest markets of Hyundai but it has become matured and over the years, many new competitors entered the market.

In order to survive the competition, the South Korean auto giant has decided to increase its presence in the rural market of India and increase the amount of car components produced in India. The company is going to expand its dealer network in rural areas.

Han Woo Park said, “Our plan is to introduce more than one new model every year and refurbish more than one existing model to gain market share,……In addition we will expand our dealership for deeper market penetration in India,”

He said that the growth is higher in market beyond the 40 major Indian cities and their main priority is the domestic market where the demand is increasing.

The company is planning to introduce a diesel variant of its i10, a new Sonata sedan, refurbished i10 and i20 models and Santa Fe SUV.

Hyundai is the biggest car exporter and the second largest passenger car manufacturer in India after Maruti-Suzuki. It has its car plant in Chennai, which can produce 600,000 cars per year. A third of the cars produced in India are exported to about 110 countries around the world including EU, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Asia and Australia. For the last six years, the company remained the top car exporter in India.

In the last fiscal year, Hyundai’s Indian plant churned out 600,588 cars which is a 20.8% increase on a year-over year basis.

Hyundai India’s portfolio includes the Santro King, i10, i20, Accent, Verna and Sonata Transform.