Market will revive by the second half of next year: S S Kim, MD, Hyundai

Company's new sedan Aura to make global debut in India

India's second largest car maker Hyundai Motor India expects the market to revive by second half of the next year. The company said that it would be in a better position compared to its peers as it would have a wide range of products, on which it has been investing despite the slowdown.

On Thursday, the Korean auto major showcased it's new sedan 'Aura' which will take on Maruti's Dzire and Honda's Amaze. The company has invested around Rs 1,000 crore in the product, and it is a part of the company's Rs 7,000 crore investment plan lined up by it till 2022.

The product is expected to make a global debut at the AutoExpo.

Speaking after the unveiling of Aura on Thursday, S S Kim, managing director and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, said that while the industry was down by 13 per cent in 2019, Hyundai degrew by around 7 per cent and its exports grew by 20 per cent.

Apart from consumer sentiment, factors which affected the industry included regulations and cost increases, which were passed on to customers by OEMs, Kim said.

Kim further said that another issue weighing on the mind of the customer was the introduction of BS-VI norms in April. He added that this major roadblock would not be there from the second half of FY21, which would lead to growth.

While Kim expects the growth to be in single digits next year, he said that HMIL would outperform the industry due to its offerings. Speaking on capacity utilisation, he said, the company had the capacity to produce around 7.65 lakh units and it was producing around 7 lakh units.

Kim said that nearly 20-25 per cent of production was exported, and this helped the company keep the capacity at high levels compared to its peers.