Hyundai India rolls out 3 millionth car to be exported from Chennai plant

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) on Thursday rolled out its 3 millionth car to be exported from its factory in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur. The car, Hyundai Aura, exported as Grand i10, will be sent to the Colombian market.

The company had a 26 per cent market share in the passenger car exports in 2019, with 1,81,200 units of the total 706,272 units exported from India. In 2018, the company had shipped 1,60,010 units.

Hyundai started exporting cars in 1999 with the first batch of 20 Santros to Nepal and reached a milestone of exporting 1,00,000 cars in 2004. It hit the 1 million export figures in March 2010 and the second million in March 2014.

"We have been exporting cars from the Chennai facility to 88 countries including Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. There is growing interest from countries like South Africa, Saudi Arabia and others. We are expecting that the exports from Chennai will be growing," said SS Kim, Managing Director, CEO, HMIL.

He said that the company has invested around Rs 24,000 crore in India into infrastructure enhancement and technology. It has further committed to invest Rs 7,000 crore into new products and technology.

During 2019, the company exported 181,200 units with 792 customised variants according to the country-specific preference and demand. The company currently exports 10 models including Atios (Santro), Grand i10, Xcent, Grand i10 (NIOS), Etios i20, Creta among others.

Hyundai aims to export 2,00,000 units in 2020

The company is expected to roll out a mass market electric vehicle product in two to three years and hopes the second half of the year to show imporvement in domestic market despite concerns about the comparitively higher price for the BSVI models. There might also be excitement among the customers on the new technology, said Tarun Garg, director, sales and marketing division, Hyundai Motor India Ltd.

With some of the diesel vehicle manufacturers planning to stop productions in the wake of BS VI implementation, the company is expecting a growth in the market, but the demand may not be fully met initially considering the lack of adequate capacity available.