Hyundai Motor price hike: Automakers would roll out more cars and increase investment in India

On August 26, 2010, Hyundai Motor India announced that it will increase prices of its products by 1.2 percent starting from September 1, 2010.

Arvind Saxena, Director, Marketing and Sales, Hyundai Motor India, said, "there has been an increase in the input costs for car manufacturers. We have tried to absorb as much of the cost as we can, to cause as less inconvenience as possible to our valued customers."

On the same day, the Annual conference of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers took place. Auto industry executives said that due to high demand of cars, major automakers of the world are going to introduce new models and increase their investment in India.

Narrow roads, heavy traffic and lower price and the growing capability of the Indian middle class people are making compact cars measuring between 3.4 meters to 4 meters more popular. Currently, these cars account for 70 percent of the Indian car market.

At the conference, Marc Nassif, Country General Manager, Renault India, said that his company would launch five cars between 2011 and 2013. The cars will be produced at the company’s Indian facility.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd., the Indian unit of Toyota Motors Corp. said that it plans to sell 63,000-64,000 units of its Etios Compact cars within 2011. Sandeep Singh, Deputy Managing Director, TKM said that the Etios has been specifically designed for the Indian market.