Hyundai to invest $200 mn yearly, to launch 2 models

Completes 20 years in country this year and has a 17.1% market share

Hyundai, the Korean automobile major, says it plans to launch two new products in the Indian market every year, with a minimum investment for each of around $100 million (Rs 650 crore).

It completes 20 years in the country this year and has a 17.1 per cent market share (second only to Maruti Suzuki in cars). Young Key Koo, managing director of Hyundai Motor India, says this is their third biggest market, after China and the US. To strengthen its position, the company is planning to launch two new products every year and the company is expecting to invest around $100 million at the minimum to develop each of these products. The firm also set a target to increase rural sales by five per cent from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

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Taking the leadership position in the near future will be difficult for the Korean car marker, mainly due to constrains in manufacturing. The company can produce around seven lakh units, while Maruti’s capacity is more than double of this.

For the current (calendar) year, the target is 665,000 units (it was 640,000 in 2015), with 500,000 for the domestic market and the rest for export. The latter markets, said the MD, had slowed with the fall in crude oil prices.

The Indian arm exports to West Asia, part from Africa, South America and other parts of Asia.

There are 10 models in its current offering. There is a plan to launch a small sports utility vehicle in two to three years.

The waiting period for the Creta, said Young, is around four months. The company plans to cut this to two months, by increasing the production volume to 13,000 units, from 10,000 units at present. Of the 13,000 units, around 10,000 will be for the domestic market.

A special edition each of the Xcent and Creta are planned, to mark the 20th anniversary. These products will come with 40 per cent discount on the value added.