Hyundai to launch one new car model in India every year

Hyundai Motor India plans to launch a new model every year for the next few years as it seeks to hold its own in a fiercely competitive car market in the country. Besides, it will give a facelift to an existing model every year and also make minor modifications for a model year change.

(Auto makers refresh their line-up with small changes for the new calendar year, which they refer to as model year change.)

Over a buffet dinner at an Indian restaurant in Seoul's shopping district of Itaewon, Mr Han-Woo Park, Managing Director & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, told a group of visiting Indian journalists last week that this will be the company's strategy to meet competition, from the likes of Ford Figo, Chevrolet Beat, Volkswagen Polo and the new WagonR from Maruti Suzuki, besides the spate of new launches planned.

“I will launch minimum three models a year,” he told the journalists, on a visit sponsored by Hyundai Motor India to some of its parent company's facilities in South Korea.

“I feel that competition will be tough this year,” he said, and added that even in the face of the new launches by competitors so far this year, Hyundai Motor India's market share did not drop. This, he attributed to strong marketing and sales and the product line-up. Last year, the company's average market share was 20.6 per cent. In the January-April 2010 period, this increased to 20.7 per cent.

Hyundai Motor India sells the i10, Santro, i20 (all compact cars), Accent and Verna (sedans), and Sonata, a luxury sedan. It plans to launch the Santa Fe sports utility vehicle later this year.

The recently launched Ford Figo compact car has been reporting good sales numbers, especially the diesel option, which accounts for nearly 70 per cent of the car's sales.

Will he look at a diesel engine option for the i10? Mr Park replied that the company had not thought of this option till now, but might consider it for the new i10, whenever it was launched.

Hyundai Motor India gets 1.1-litre diesel engines from Hyundai Motor Company for the export model i10.

Mr Park was confident of the automobile industry's prospects for this year, with sales expected to grow 10-12 per cent over last year. Hyundai Motor India expected to do slightly better than the industry average.

The company, according to him, will have a stronger rural focus in the coming years. Rural sales accounted for more than a fourth of the company's total sales. From January to April this year, the rural market had grown 27 per cent, with Hyundai's sales growing at about 40 per cent. The company's strategy was to have sales branches in the rural areas to push sales.

When would the company think of expanding capacity? “We will think of it when the domestic sales account for 70-80 per cent of total sales,” said Mr Park. Last year, the domestic and export sales were equally split, with domestic sales growing to 57 per cent this year.

Mr Park was firm in stating that the company would not yield any more ground to a section of the workers which is threatening an agitation.

Last year, he said, the company took back 20 of the dismissed 87 employees. But some of them had agitated against the management, even when they were still serving their probation period. There was demand to take back some more of the dismissed workers.

Mr Park said “we will take a firm stand this time. We will not reinstate even one person.” On humanitarian grounds, the company was trying for an out-of-court settlement. “We have reached a settlement with four persons and are negotiating with a few more,” he said.

The industrial relations scenario was a major issue for the company, he said, and added that it would not be possible to run a large organisation if the company had to repeatedly compromise its stand. Moreover, it would affect the other industrial units in Sriperumbudur area, where Hyundai Motor India's plant is located.

“I don't think reinstatement is the only option for a settlement on humanitarian grounds. An out-of-court settlement is also an option,” said Mr Park.

Hyundai Sonata hybrid to be unveiled at New York Auto Show

As people become more comfortable with the hybrid technology, global manufacturers are rushing to get it right and launch their hybrid cars. Recently Toyota launched its hybrid car, Prius, in India.

While the rest of the auto manufacturers were sweating it out with their hybrid car competition, Hyundai maintained a low profile. But now seems to be the right time for the Korean car manufacturer to join the race. Hyundai is all set to unveil its new Sonata hybrid during the upcoming New York Auto Show which is scheduled in April. Soon after this Hyundai hopes to launch its own plug-in hybrid some time in 2013.

The hybrid Sonata is equipped with a 2.4-liter engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission coupled with a 30kW electric motor and a 1.4kWh battery pack. The battery pack will use lithium-polymer batteries rather than the NiMH batteries used by the other hybrids in its class. The polymer batteries are said to be more durable and cheaper to manufacture.

The Sonata hybrid will run on a parallel hybrid system. An electric motor and gas-burning engine will work in concert to increase fuel economy. It will be the first mass-produced vehicle to feature a lithium-ion battery under its hood.

Indian customers have still not warmed up to the concept of hybrid cars. One among the many reasons is that they are really expensive and so far the government has not done anything to bring relaxation on import duties.

Honda cars have a fan following in India but still when Honda launched its hybrid Civic in India in June 2008; it could not manage to get a warm response, mainly because of the price factor. But still, after the launch of Toyota Prius in India which is priced at around Rs 26.5 lakh and onward will give a tough competition to Hyundai’s hybrid Sonata when it is launched in India.

No words have been spilled on the pricing of the hybrid Sonata, but considering the technology, we can assume that it will cost much more than the petrol engine variant Sonata which are priced at Rs.13,84,841 and onwards in India.

Suzuki Kizashi to Hit Indian Markets by 2010-End

Official reports have confirmed that the Japanese automobiles manufacturer Suzuki is all set to launch its first ever luxury sports model, which has been specifically designed for the rugged Indian roads, the Suzuki Kizashi.

The company's official website describes the new offering as "One of the most exciting cars of 2010".

Although the official release date of the car has not been revealed by the company yet, word is that it will fall somewhere towards the end of 2010.

The Kizashi intends to give head-on competition to Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Jetta and Skoda Octavia.

Expected to be priced at about 10-13 lakhs, the mid-sized sedan will see an Australian launch in the month of May, and it was already released for the American market in December of 2009.

The new vehicle has been equipped with a Euro IV 2.4 liter engine, six speed manual transmission and CVT.

Hyundai’s ‘Always Around’ campaign enters third consecutive year

With the novel idea of ‘Always There, Because We Care’ , Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the country’s largest passenger car exporter and the second largest car manufacturer, is back with its nationwide service initiative - ‘Always Around’ campaign in a mega avatar for the third consecutive year.

Starting from November 8th the ‘Always Around’ campaign will provide free check-ups for its customers at convenient locations. Last year around 80,000 Hyundai vehicles across 6,000 locations attended the camp.

This year, the ‘Always Around’ campaign has grown much wider in terms of locations and reach and will continue till December, 2009 covering 6,500 locations wherein Hyundai will be reaching out to around 90,000 customers in an effort to make them smile by ensuring that their car is in the best of condition. Around 4,000 vehicles across 270 locations nationwide are expected to attend the camp on the launch day itself.

The mega ‘Always Around’ campaign will be conducted at various locations which customers in their normal course of life frequent on an everyday basis like Joggers Park, Shopping Malls, Apartments, Multiplexes, etc. The ‘Always Around’ campaign is truly innovative one as it reaches out to the customers at a time and a place where it is most convenient for them and at no extra cost. For example, while the customer might be busy shopping in a mall, his car is serviced and cleaned which saves both his time and money as it is a free service, and the advice that he gets from trained technicians helps him maintain his car even better.

Along with the camp various value added services and schemes are offered e.g customer Referral Scheme, Hyundai Advantage, Health Check-Up Camps, customer education towards improving the vehicle mileage/performance, information related to Hyundai products, etc are also part of this campaign.

Commenting on the campaign, Arvind Saxena, Sr. V P, Marketing & Sales, HMIL said, “At Hyundai it is our belief that owning a car is a special experience; and the experience should be one of delight. With Always Around campaigns, we offer our customers the most convenient after sales service. The positive feedback received from the campaign till now has encouraged us to value add by adding more locations and offering more attractive schemes and offers.”

The ‘Always Around’ campaign will offer a comprehensive 17 point check-up and a thorough examination of the vehicle and services such as tyre and vehicle polishing, coolant and oil top-up. The Hyundai team will also collect suggestions and feedback on the performance of the vehicle & after sales service. The customers will also have a chance to see and test drive the latest Hyundai cars which would be there on display at the venue.

This year Shell India has partnered with Hyundai as the recommended lubricant supplier for ‘Always Around’ activity throughout the year. There will be active participation from Shell India at various locations to support the event to enable them to take valuable feedback directly from the customers.

Hyundai Motor India Limited

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is the second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter from India. HMIL presently markets 54 variants of passenger cars across segments. The Santro in the B segment, the Getz Prime, i10 and the Premium hatchback i20 in the B+ segment, the Accent and the Verna in the C segment, the Sonata in the E segment and the Tucson in the SUV segment.

Hyundai Motor India, continuing its tradition of being the fastest growing passenger car manufacturer, registering total sales of 489,328 vehicles in the calendar year (CY) 2008, an increase of 49.6 percent over CY 2007. In the domestic market it clocked a growth of 22.4 percent as compared to 2007 with 245,397 units, while overseas sales grew by 92.5 percent, with exports of 243,931 units.

HMIL's fully integrated state-of-the-art manufacturing plant near Chennai boasts of the most advanced production, quality and testing capabilities in the country. In continuation of its commitment to provide the Indian customer with global technology, HMIL commissioned its second plant in February 2008 which produces an additional 300,000 units per annum, raising HMIL's total production capacity to 600,000 units per annum.

HMIL has invested to expand capacity in line with its positioning as HMC`s global export hub for compact cars. Apart from the expansion of production capacity, HMIL currently has 271 strong dealer network across India, which will be further bolstered in 2009.

In 2008, HMIL also successfully completed 10 glorious years of operations in India and to commemorate its achievements, initiated a unique trans-continental drive from Delhi to Paris in two of its hugely popular i10 Kappa cars. The drive created automobile history by completing a distance of 10,000km in just 17 days after which the i10s were showcased at the Paris Motor Show in October. In fact it was at the Paris Motor Show that HMIL first unveiled the Hyundai i20 and the car received a phenomenal response from the auto enthusiasts across the world. Hyundai Motor India also accomplished the landmark of producing the fastest 20th lakh cars in India in 2008.

Like 2008, the year 2007 had also been a significant year for Hyundai Motor India. It achieved a significant milestone by rolling out the fastest 400,000th export car. Hyundai exported to over 100 countries globally; even as it plans to continue its thrust in existing export markets, it is gearing up to step up its foray into new markets. 2007 also saw the launch of the i10 and yet another path-breaking record in its young journey by rolling out the fastest 1,500,000th car.

Hyundai`s new model i10 made a clean sweep of all the "Car of the Year 2008" awards from the leading automotive magazines and TV channels like BS Motoring, CNBC-TV18 AutoCar, NDTV Profit Car & Bike India and Overdrive magazine. The i10 was also the choice of the discerning automotive media of the country as they conferred the prestigious "Indian Car of the Year" (ICOTY) award to the i10 as well.

The Santro and the Accent also received the "TNS Voice of the Customer - 2008" award for the Premium Compact Car (Santro) and the Entry Mid size Car (Accent). In March 2008 it achieved yet another milestone by rolling out the fastest 500,000th export car.

In 2007, the Hyundai Verna had also bagged some of the most prestigious awards starting with the Overdrive magazine's "Car of the Year 2007", the "Best Mid-size Car of the Year" award from NDTV Profit Car & Bike India, the "Best Value for Money Car" from CNBC Autocar and "Performance Car of the Year" from Business Standard Motoring.

Hyundai cars have been a favorite at all awards ceremonies and has won many awards. The Sonata Embera won the "Executive Car of The Year 2006" award from Business Standard Motoring magazine and NDTV Profit Car & Bike India had declared the Tucson as the "SUV of The Year 2006".

Not only this, HMIL has also been awarded the benchmark ISO 14001 certification for its sustainable environment management practices.

Hyundai Motor India reduces prices of Sonata Transform

The country's second largest car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter announced that it will pass on the full benefits of the additional duty of excise reduction announced by the finance minister in the recent budget.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd offers its customers a full range of cars starting from the entry level compact Santro to the premium luxury sedan - the Sonata Transform. According to the duty reduction announced in the budget any car equipped with an engine capacity of over 2 litre will have a reduced excise duty. Earlier the additional duty of excise was Rs 20,000 but after the recent budget announcement this has been brought down by Rs 5,000.

The Sonata Transform is powered by a 2.4 litre engine and hence directly benefits from the duty reduction.

Commenting on the new price Arvind Saxena Sr VP, Marketing and Sales said,

"We have always kept our customers in mind and created value for them. We will pass on the full benefits of the excise duty reduction to our valued customers. The Sonata Transform is a premium car with all the options and it had always catered to customers who looked for the ultimate luxury without having to pay exorbitantly for it."

The new Sonata Transform was launched in January, 2009 and is sold in petrol, Diesel and with an Automatic transmission for the diesel variant. The total cost benefit to the customer will be Rs 5,852 and the new price for the Sonata petrol is now an attractive Rs1,384,448 ( ex-showroom, New Delhi).

Maruti To Launch Its First Luxury Family Car in India

India’s largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, plans to enter the D-segment of the Indian car market. It will be launching its new model, Kizashi, in India by 2009. It will be one of the first cars in India that will have four-wheel drive in its segment. The new model will compete with Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla Altis, Hyundai Sonata, Skoda Octavia, and Volkswagen Jetta.

Maruti is already the most successful car manufacturer in the A-segment and B-segment cars in India. Its engineers are now working towards a new target of bringing the model from the concept form to the production level. The car was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motors Show 2007. It was also showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo 2008. The new model, Kizashi, is basically a crossover sports sedan powered with an advanced four-valve turbo-fired 2-litre petrol engine completely compliant with Euro V norms.

The company sources have not spoken officially about the car or its prices but the new model is expected to be priced at Rs. 10 lakh and above. The new model may roll out from the Manesar plant in Gurgaon by end-2009 or early 2010.