Hyundai to launch Grand i10 next month

Hyundai Motor India, the second-largest car manufacturer in the country, is beefing up its small car portfolio with a slew of new models to take on market leader Maruti Suzuki. 

Hyundai has lined up 8-10 launches in the next three to four years. It will drive in a sub-4 metre sedan in the second half of 2014, followed by a multi-purpose vehicle to take on Maruti's Ertiga and a compact SUV positioned between Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster in 2015-16. It's also exploring the potential to launch its flagship saloon Genesis in India.

The company is planning to launch new Eon 1.1 litre, which will be pitted against Maruti’s Alto K10. 

The company launched Eon in October 2011 and currently offers 814cc gasoline engine. 

In the last financial year, Alto sold roughly around 20,000 units a month, while Eon sales averaged around 7,000-8,000 units a month. 

The company will also launch its small car Grand i10 (referred to as the BA until now) in September this year, which is expected to compete with Maruti’s Swift. Grand i10 is a completely new car and will be positioned between i10 and i20. It will be manufactured at the company’s Chennai plant. 

As far as pricing goes, expect significant pricing overlap with both the i10 and i20. Expect the base petrol to start around the Rs 4.5 lakh mark, with the diesel Grand i10 priced at Rs 5.5 lakh.

“The Grand i10 has been positioned above the existing i10 and is targeted at the emerging compact high-entry segment,” the company said. 

Grand i10 will come with two engine variants -- 1.1 litre U2 diesel and 1.2 litre Kappa petrol. 

Even though the passenger car segment declined 10% this fiscal, experts feel that a new launch will bring excitement in the market. 

“Bringing a new product in the segment definitely creates a pull. In terms of product strategy, Hyundai is good at hitting the right area. They offer what Indians want. They were a bit weak on the diesel engine front, but the company will surely benefit with the new diesel engine offering,” said Puneet Gupta, associate director, IHS Automotive.  

Hyundai India reportedly is planning to launch up to four new models in the next two years, including a compact SUV and compact sedan.

Toyota hopes to fill Tazz void with new Aygo

Toyota has returned to the booming small-car market.

The departure of the popular Tazz has long left the country’s best-selling vehicle brand without a contender in the small-car market, and this just as South African showrooms witnessed a serious shift in buying behaviour, with smaller cars gaining ground rapidly.

In fact, new car sales in the A-segment grew by 81% in 2010 compared with 2009, with the sub-B segment up 94% over the same period, this while the overall passenger car market grew by a ‘mere’ 30,6% in comparison. (The A- and sub-B segments refer to smaller, more affordable cars.)

Importers and other local manufacturers have been benefitting from Toyota’s absence in this market space, but the local arm of the Japanese brand has finally produced an answer to the growing popularity of cars such as the i10 and the Spark, with the launch of the Aygo.

Pricing for the five-door urban run-around starts at R109 900, which includes power steering, air-conditioning, ABS brakes, driver and passenger airbags, and an immobiliser and alarm. For R10 000 more, buyers get front electric windows, side airbags, a radio/CD player, remote central locking and alloy wheels.

A bottom-of-the-range, three-door Aygo, also to be imported from the same Czech plant, is to follow in the third quarter of the year.

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) Aygo product planner Reché van Niekerk says accessories include a bluetooth kit, coloured centre cluster covers, an iPad integration kit, as well as front fog lamps, all aimed at accommodating the youth market, which is the Aygo's target market. (A secondary market is women looking for a zippy shop, drop and collect vehicle.)

The Aygo is priced lower than the Yaris Zen, but don’t expect the Zen to be around forever.

TSAM sales and marketing senior VP Calvyn Hamman says this lower-priced version of the Yaris was only an interim strategy until the launch of the new-look Yaris, as Toyota “had nothing in the smaller car market”.

TSAM now also plans to bring the larger-than-Yaris, but low-priced, made-in-India Toyota Etios to South Africa later this year as it works to strengthen its hand in the affordable car segment.

“We are doing everything to have the right line-up for the South African market,” says Hamman.

NEW, BUT FAMILIAR

Aygo – a play on the words ‘I go’ – may look familiar to some, as the Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 are all based on the same platform.

The Aygo has been around on the global markets for around five years-plus already. Why only bring it to South Africa now?

“When we considered launching it, it was hard. We had other priorities. We were focussed on keeping our local plant running,” explains Hamman.

TSAM produces the Corolla, Hilux and Fortuner models locally.

The profitability of small cars is also not nearly the same as those vehicles higher up the specification level, adds Hamman.

However, now that there has been a serious upswing in the market for small cars, Toyota has decided to bring the Aygo to South Africa, with the promise that the current model still has around three years life in it before it will be rejuvenated.

“People are also now more willing to sacrifice space for a lower price and better fuel economy, so we suddenly have volume potential in this [small car] market,” notes TSA marketing and planning VP Glenn Crompton.

He hopes to sell 300 Aygos a month.

If the petrol price continues to soar as it is currently doing, Crompton may just see this happen, as the 67 kg, one-litre VVT-i engine, which has clinched several engine of the year awards, sips only 4,6 l of petrol every 100 km, while offering a respectable 50 kW of power, and 93 Nm of torque at 3 600 rpm, powering a car which weighs in at a low 830 kg.

Top speed is 157 km/h, and reaching 100 km/h from a stationary position will take 14,2 seconds.

The Aygo’s turning circle is a tight 4,7 m.

The small car is exempt from carbon tax, as it comes in well below government’s tax limit, at 105 g/km carbon dioxide emissions.

The Aygo comes standard with a four-year, 60 000 km service plan.

Van Niekerk expects the A-segment, in which the Aygo competes, to make up 8% of the passenger car market in 2011.

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 to launch 800 cc car both for India and export markets

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HTML) is planning to launch its 800 cc small car by 2011-12. The wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motors Company is taking this step foreseeing the demand for small cars which is likely to touch 2 million units in India by the time this car gets to launch here. The Hyundai 800 cc cars will be both for Indian market and exports markets.


But the company made a clear remark that it had no intentions to give a competition to Nano as it does not have the capacity to manufacture Rs. 1 lakh car.


Hyundai is planning to undertake the production of this new 800 cc variant on the tunes of Maruti 800 and is supposed to hit the market with an affordable range. Hyundai is the largest seller of the small car


segment. Its current best seller is i10 but Hyundai plans to offer a car at a price tag lower than i10 this time.


“We hope to bring our smaller car than Santro, which will be an 800 cc vehicle, by 2011,” said H S Lheem, Managing Director Hyundai Motors India. He, however, did not divulge details like price range of the car. The car is aimed to hit not only the Indian domestic market but the company also plans to cater to the export market as well. The design of the car will be prepared in Korea.


The research and development work has already started at R&D centers at Hyderabad and Namyam (Korea). The company however has not revealed much about the product specification but there are anticipations that this car would be a petrol variant with 800 cc engine. These units have the capacity to manufacture 20,000 units per month and 600,000 units per year. HMIL has also promised a preview of its i20 car in the hatch back segment with a code name PB at the Paris Auto Tariff Show on October 2.


Hyundai is probably impressed by what Maruti 800 did to the Indian small car segment. Maruti Udyog happens to be the only company that boasts of having a monopoly in the small car segment in India. Hyundai’s new 800 cc car is bound to face tough competition from Maruti’s Alto, Maruti 800 and Spark. The company aims to take forward this sensation by launching yet another affordable small car, looking at the growing market of small cars in India.

Volkswagen launches Polo

Volkswagen, Europes largest car maker, launched its much awaited premium hatchback, Polo at a price of Rs 4.34 lakh for the petrol variant and Rs 5.32 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) for the diesel variant.

"India is a key market for our overall strategic growth plans and with launch of the Polo, it affirms our commitment to offer quality products to customers at affordable prices," said Neeraj Garg, Member of Board and Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India. Deliveries of the new 1.2 petrol variant will begin from March and the diesel variant in May.

VW will manufacture the Polo from its Chakan plant with an annual capacity of 1.11 lakh cars. The Polo offers some standard features like the tilt & telescopic steering and the green-tinted heat-blocking glass.

VW which currently markets the iconic Beetle, Jetta, Passat and the Touareg sports utility vehicle, expects the Polo to be a volume puller and a money spinner for the segment.

The Polo which will compete with the Hyundai i10 and the Maruti Suzuki Swift will have a localisation level of 50% .

Volkswagen Beetle In First Week of December

VW Beetle is scheduled for a launch in the Indian auto market on December 04 in Mumbai. The company has planned a complete advertising campaign including internet, print, electronic and digital media to generate a furor about its upcoming high cost model. Volkswagen AG has embarked on Rs 40 crore ad campaign to build its brand in the run-up to its December launch of small car Beetle and sports utility vehicle Touareg and the January launch of another small car, the Polo. The main aim of launching Beetle in India is to build a brand image in the country.

The car will be imported as a completely built unit in India which will make it pricier due to high import duty. It is expect to be priced around Rs. 20 lakh and above. The company will launch another premium car, Polo, at Rs 4.5 lakh in January. Polo will be the cheapest form the Volkswagen stable in India. The vehicle will compete with Maruti Swift and Ritz, Skoda Fabia, Hyundai i10 and Aveo U-VA.

“We will soon be introducing new car models like Beetle or Polo in India to enhance our presence in the market, besides providing technologically advanced cars for Indian customers. Our factory in Pune is ready for the start of production of Polo, which will be launched during the upcoming Auto Expo 2010,” Joerg Mueller, president and managing director, Volkswagen India, said.

It's a long wait for key car models this festive season

A number of cars such as Maruti’s Dzire and Ritz, Honda’s City, Hyundai’s i20 and Toyota’s Fortuner SUV have been wiped off shelves in past 10 days and are not available for immediate delivery as demand frenzy during the ongoing festival season has led to stock out situation for car dealers.

Carmakers are now being forced to ramp up production to meet demand. For instance, Maruti has re-jigged its operations to produce more of its newer cars such as Ritz, Estilo, Swift and DZire, while Honda has hiked production of its flagship sedan City and General Motors is operating its factory on all seven days to meet the market demand for small car Spark, utility vehicle Tavera and Aveo sedan even though Sunday is weekly off for the company. The festive season has also put other cars such as Hyundai’s I10 and Toyota’s Innova besides Mahindra and Mahindra’s Xylo out of dealer stock.

Auto industry executives say that the dual-combination of the prevailing festival mood and the slew of new car launches in recent past has contributed to the high sales in the past two weeks. “The interest rates, which are at the lowest level since the past two years is also pushing up volumes,” said Shashank Srivastava chief general manager (marketing) at Maruti. Maruti is slated to end up with despatches of over 5,500 Ritz cars in September as against the monthly average of 4500-5000, it was delivering to dealers every month.

Besides sudden jump in demand there is also a supply lag for these cars. Companies usually ramp up production of new cars over a period depending on demand. Since there has been a sudden jump in demand during the festive period companies were not prepared to churn out the required number of these models.

Unlike older more established products such as Maruti’s Alto or Wagon R, where discounts and freebies up to 15% of the value of the car are given the newer models have much lower discounts. The demand rush during the auspicious Navratara and Dusshera festivals have resulted in the huge waiting period of up to three months on such cars — some of which are leaders in their respective segment.

“There has been much more sales than we had expected. Most of our cars like Tavera, Spark LPG, Aveo sedan have wiped off from the showrooms and are enjoy a waiting of four to six-weeks,” said General Motors vice-president (marketing & sales) Ankush Arora said.

Domestic car market is expected to scale new sales graph for the fiscal in September on the back of this huge demand. This would help the industry surpass the mark of 1.2 lakh cars that were sold in August in India.

Besides general demand, return of easy financing could also have helped spur demand. “We are anticipating a double digit growth in sales over the last year in September with market leaders like Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai their highest sales in the domestic market,” HDFC Bank auto loan head Ashok Khanna said. Earlier, most private sector financiers had tightened their auto loan portfolio which had also led to slow growth in demand.

Hyundai Unveils Its EV

For Hyundai Motors, it seems like filling the void. The void of entry into electric cars segment. We have of late seen or heard most of the car makers, if not all, join the electric car manufacturing band wagon. Hyundai it looks as if, a strong believer in the adage ‘Make hay while sunshine’.

Hyundai Korea has just done the much speculated thing. After a quick heart transplant in its existing and popular small car i10, the guys in Hyundai have brought out the new Electric Vehicle (EV). This creation will most certainly star in the Frankfurt Motor Show later this month. We hear that the guys in Hyundai Motors have been slogging day in and day out on this project.

Hyundai i10, a small car and a hatch back will be positioned as an example of electric urban or city vehicle. It is said that the Hyundai i10 EV comes with a 66 bhp electric motor powered by a 16 kwh lithium-ion battery. The battery cells are provided by LG Chem. Driving range is 145 kilometers and top speed is 133 kph. 0 to 60 time is a rather leisurely 15 seconds. Hyundai also has added an intrinsic liquid thermal management system in the battery which makes the car charge upto 85 per cent in 15-minutes flat at 413 V. How cool is that?

But Hyundai has borrowed a leaf from GM Volt’s story and is leasing a low volume fleet in Korea in 2010 to understand the psyche of the people and probably would go into global production in 2012. Hyundai says that the battery cost would be above the sky limit for anybody to own at the moment forcing Hyundai will offer these vehicles as lease-only for the foreseeable future. In fact, the price of the pack is greater than the cost of an entire conventional gas-powered i10.

Now for the price update you’ll have been eagerly looking in this blog for. Ladies and Gentlemen, Hyundai i10 EV’s 16 kwh battery pack itself costs, Hold our breath, 10,000 euro. Ok, allow us to translate this complicated currency with our own. It roughly could read something like Rs. 7,00,000. Alright that might sound affordable to you, but we are being polite in reminding you it is just the cost of the battery pack and the whole car could actually cost a bomb.

But since, Hyundai has had at least the courtesy of admitting the battery pack cost of their Electric Vehicle, we also think that GM Volt’s battery cost also should be hovering around in that price range since they also use the same supplier ‘s cells and also have the intrinsic temperature management system.

Ah Guys, We also would like to add something else before we forget. This car though a hybrid in itself, the energy consumption is awesome. Hyundai i10 returns with a mind-blowing mileage of 7.8 miles per kwh. The Volt achieves 5 miles per kwh. Way to go Hyundai. It seems like Koreans can teach a lesson or two in conserving that precious energy.

For us Indians, we should be glad that we have Hyundai’s i10 doing rounds here in India. So we know that it surely would be in Indian shores sometime soon after the global production of the EV kicks off. We also are staunch believers in the adage ‘Better late than never’.

Hyundai i10 Achieves New Milestone, Records Fastest 3 Lakh Sale

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. India’s second largest passenger car manufacturer and the largest exporter today achieved yet another key milestone in its decade old journey in India by clocking the fastest three lakh i10 sales since its launch on 31st October, 2007.



Of the three lakh i10 cars sold, over 1.44 lakh cars have been sold in the domestic market and around 1.56 lakh units were exported to over 100 countries across Latin America, European Union, Middle East and South East Asia. Hyundai i10 has achieved the fastest 3 lakh sales in a very short span of time which is the fastest amongst its competitors. The ‘Made in India’ car from Hyundai’s stable went global in December, 2007 when it was unveiled at the Bologna Motor Show, Italy and since then its total export orders have reached a remarkable 150,000 plus units in just over15 months.

Speaking on this momentous occasion Arvind Saxena, Sr VP, Marketing & Sales, HMIL said “Hyundai Motor India Ltd has constantly focused on providing the best for its customers be it design, technology or the best value for money proposition. And the resounding success of the i10 just proves that our customers value these parameters as well and have reinforced our belief that, if we provide the best, we will always be on the fore front be it the domestic or the overseas market. The i10 which meets the stringent safety and emission norms even in the European market has become an undoubted segment leader in both the domestic and overseas market and I sincerely thank our customers in India and in over 100 countries across the world for choosing to drive Hyundai i10.”

The customers and the automotive media were both equally impressed by the i10 when it was launched and the media which backed its belief by conferring upon the i10 all the ‘Car of the Year 2008’ awards making it the first car to win all the Car of the Year awards including the coveted ‘Indian Car of the Year’ (ICOTY) from a jury comprising of the most respected automotive journalist in India – the i10 truly has become a global car.

Santro offered at ten year old price

Scheme offers free insurance, exchange bonus, free car accessories and more

Hyundai Motor India Ltd, India’s largest exporter and fastest growing auto manufacturer, announced special schemes for its customers during the month of December. As part of the scheme, Hyundai is offering free insurance, exchange bonuses and free car accessories on the purchase of Hyundai cars. The flagship model Santro which was launched in 1998 will be available under this scheme at the ten year old, introductory price of Rs 2.99 lakhs.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd has launched the scheme on its entire product range, namely, Santro (GS/GLS/Non-AC), i10 (all variants), Getz (Petrol), Accent (GLE), Verna (Petrol and Diesel). All Santro GL (Solid) purchases will get a special price of Rs. 2, 99,000. Santro Non AC, Santro GLS and i10 buyers will be eligible to get free insurance as well as car accessories worth Rs.7, 000, Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 5,000 respectively.

There are some interesting exchange schemes as well. Hyundai customers can avail the exchange benefits up to Rs. 20,000 on all the above cars. Also, a loyalty scheme has also been announced where in existing Hyundai customers can avail the loyalty discounts up to Rs.20,000 on purchase of new Hyundai Getz (Petrol), Accent (GLE), Verna (Petrol and Diesel) .

On the announcement of December schemes, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Senior VP, Marketing & Sales, Mr. Arvind Saxena said, "We at Hyundai Motor India are committed to provide the best of benefits to our customers who are already a part as well as new members of of the Hyundai family. The schemes announced will provide our customers with an attractive value for money proposition and with the prevailing economic conditions this should provide an impetus for our sales and offset a part of the ownership cost which has gone up considerably in the past few months.”

The new Hyundai i20

The new Hyundai i20 is all set to be launched at the Paris Motor Show in October. The new hatchback model is currently under production at the Chennai plant of Hyundai Motors India Ltd. Official pictures of the new Hyundai i20 are yet to be released. The production version of the new model from Hyundai i-series will be launched at the Paris Motor Show in October this year.

The new Hyundai i20 shall replace the Getz model in the European markets and the company hopes that it shall become the next best seller. Hyundai is also debuting the latest i20 blue concept which would reflect the advanced low emission concepts from the company.

Hyundai plans to become the largest car manufacturer in India and occupy larger market share. It has already made India as its global manufacturing and exports hub for its small cars. It has its plant located in Chennai and uses Chennai port for all its exports. It also plans to launch new models in India to expand its product portfolio in the country.

Hyundai studying US market for i10 launch

Hyundai Motor India is studying the US market to develop strategies for launching its small car, the i10.

The US is not a “small car market” and hence introducing the i10 will involve careful study of the market.

“The ‘Elantra’ is considered a small car in the US,” said Han-Woo Park, referring to the 1.8-litre, Rs 8-lakh car, one of the premium vehicles in India.

While the Americans are not typical small car buyers, changes in the economy and rising oil prices could cause a shift in preference towards the more fuel-efficient vehicles, Park told Business Line today.

The i10 was launched in October last year and has already sold 190,000 numbers. Hyundai expects to cross the 200,000-mark in less than two weeks from now.

Nearly half the sales have been outside India — something that has given Hyundai India the confidence to take it across the Atlantic.

The car, manufactured only in India, is currently sent to over 100 countries.

Hyundai has an overseas order backlog of 15,000 cars. To mark the success of the i10, Hyundai India is taking two cars of that model to the Paris Motor Show that is to take place early October.

The cars are to be flown to Istanbul and will be driven through a circuitous route touching several countries in Europe, before reaching Paris.

The journey of the i10 began on September 10 at New Delhi, when the cars were flagged off from the India Gate.

The Indian leg concluded with the arrival of the cars to Chennai today. From here, they will be airlifted to Istanbul.

Reworked engine

To suit European tastes, Hyundai India has played around the Kappa engine, giving it a 50 per cent additional power.

Since the launch of the 1.2-litre Kappa engine last July the company has churned out about 25,000 units of i10 with the new engine.

The demand for Kappa engine has been increasing since the engine is Euro 5 ready and emits only 119g/km of CO2, which is the lowest for this class of cars.

However, for the European customers, the capacity of the Kappa has been raised to 1.25-litres. The increase of 50 cc in the cubic capacity of the combustion chamber supports the additional power and torque requirements of European customers, said the Vice-President (Operations) of the company, M. Inderjit.

Besides it also supports the additional load drawn by accessories like heater and such things that consume more power from the battery, he added. At present about 60 per cent of the i10s exported is with Kappa engine, the rest feature the 1.1-litre ‘Epsilon’ engine.

Hyundai launches "Kappa Challenge"

Hyundai Motor India, the second largest passenger car maker and the largest exporter of cars from India in a first-of-its-kind initiative has thrown open the 'Kappa Challenge' - a unique concept to touch, feel, drive and experience the all new powerful i10 equipped with Kappa engine to all its existing and potential customers. Set to prove the supremacy of Kappa engine as compared to its competitors in its category, the 'Kappa Challenge' will start from 23 August, 2008 across 10 different cities in India.

One of the first event to be organized at Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai on the 23 - 24 August, the challenge is open to all the existing and potential customers. The participants will go head-to-head completing a set of challenges and also driving other cars to find out which is the better car of the lot.

Throughout the session the participants will be test driving the i10 Kappa and the competitor cars in different driving and parking conditions and will be assessed on their driving and parking skills. All the participants will be handed out an assured gift apart from the grand prize of an i10 Kappa to be won through lucky draw.

The 'Kappa Challenge' will also offer several other interesting options to choose from such as Special Finance Scheme counter, Product Demonstration & Sales counter, Used Car counter, Accessories zone and Children's fun-filled zone. The customers will also have the advantage of availing the benefits of Always Around activity of getting their cars cleaned-up, polished and basic mechanical inspection done at the venue itself.

Speaking on the occasion, Arvind Saxena, Sr VP, Marketing & Sales, HMIL, said, "Our new i10 with the Kappa engine is the best in its class today with more power, less fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions. We have created this event to provide an opportunity to all our existing and potential customers to find out for themselves about the superior features and driveability of the i10 and compare it to other cars in this class. We as manufacturers might be absolutely convinced about our product but it is very important for us to instil the same level of confidence in our potential customers as well. We are convinced that anyone who takes the challenge will go away convinced that the i10 is the best product in its category."

The Kappa i10 was launched in three variants the Magna, Sportz and the Asta with all top end features like the sunroof, 2-Din audio system, a unique red pack for the Sportz interiors and some class leading safety features like anti-lock braking system (ABS) and dual airbags. The new Kappa i10 is also available with an automatic transmission and it is sold along with the existing Epsilon 1.1 litre engine variant and is available in a range of 10 colours.