Hyundai India reworks export basket with fresh models

Hyundai Motor India, the country's largest passenger vehicle exporter, is reorganising its export basket with new products. The company says the drive is aimed at maintaining its leadership in exports.

"There is a shift taking place in our portfolio. We are still exporting older models like the Eon, i10 and Accent. But the major thrust is to find opportunities for new models like the Grandi10, Xcent and Elitei20. Our sports utility vehicle, Creta, due for launch this month, will also be exported," said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president and division head (sales and marketing). Hyundai has retained its position of being India's largest passenger car exporter for a decade. It had close to one-third of the market share in the year ended March. The Indian subsidiary of the South Korean car manufacturer exports cars from India to 85 countries.

"The Grand i10, Eon, i10, Xcent and Verna are in demand in South Africa, Vietnam, Australia, Mexico, Colombia... We will keep penetrating the existing markets and expand in newer markets," Srivastava said.

Hyundai is facing capacity constraints and a high utilisation of over 98 per cent. With the growing local demand, it has scaled down exports. In 2014-15, its exports declined by 18 per cent, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, while local sales climbed over 10 per cent. In April-May, exports declined eight per cent, while local sales grew over six per cent. "We are continuously increasing our focus on the domestic market. We are balancing our export production as well to meet demand," Srivastava said.

Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai's closest competitor in the domestic and export markets, scaled up exports by 20 per cent last year, while local sales rose 11 per cent. The trend continued this year. In April-May, Maruti exported 34 per cent more vehicles and local sales grew over 19 per cent.

In the export market, the gap between the two is narrowing. Last year, Hyundai's export volume was 57 per cent more than Maruti's. This narrowed to 19 per cent in April-May. An analyst said Hyundai would have to look at more capacity to sustain its pace of growth in the domestic market and maintain its leadership in exports.