With small SUV, MPV in the works, Hyundai targets half-a-mn sales in India

No decision on new plant yet, current capacity enough, says India CEO

With a spate of new models slated to rollout, South Korean car maker Hyundai aims to touch annual volumes of half a million units within two years, a top executive at its India unit said on Wednesday.

The company, which started local sales in 1998, is currently the second largest in the segment here, after Maruti Suzuki, and also the largest car exporter. It is yet to decide on setting up a second domestic production facility after the first near Chennai, despite having negotiated with several states like Rajasthan and Gujarat for potential investments.  Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president for sales & marketing at Hyundai Motors India Ltd (HMIL), said: “We are targeting sales of 500,000 units, while exports should remain at around 200,000 units. The entry segments should grow with a drop in interest rates.”

HMIL had crossed sales of 400,000 units in 2014. The company has annual production capacity of 680,000 units at its two plants near Chennai, to which it said it could add a further 20,000 by improving of efficiencies.

Hyundai has several new launches planned, such as a compact SUV iX25 and a crossover version of the i20 this year, and an MPV next year.

Srivastava said the industry is expected to show only a single-digit growth in 2015, though HMIL is targeting double-digit growth.

Asked about plans for a new plant, B S Seo, managing director, said: “We are taking a view but have not decided so far. The first target is to improve quality levels.” Once decided, he said, HMIL would take just over a year to build one.