Hyundai to roll-out new cars in mid and premium car segment in India

The Indian unit of the leading Korean car maker Hyundai has said that it will launch a number of new cars across all segments in the Indian market. By rolling-out a series of new cars in the mid and full size car segment, the company aims to change its present image of a small car maker.

With the aim of strengthening its positing in the entry level sedan segment, the company rolled-out a new version of its Verna sedan in India. The car has been priced in the range of Rs 6.99 lakh and Rs 10.75 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The company has explained that in order to become a complete player in the Indian market, it will launch new models in mid and premium size segment.

Speaking to the reporters, Hyundai Motor Corporation’s President and CEO S S Yang said, "HMIL is very important for Hyundai Motor Company (HMC). HMIL has kept pace with the growth in the Indian market and we'll offer a full line of products here." He added that the Indian market is a priority for the company and Hyundai has supported this market through technology and new models.

Hyundai has a range of cars in its India portfolio including hatchbacks like Santro Xing, i10 and i20, and sedans like Verna and Sonata Transform, and sports utility vehicle Tucson.

Mahindra & Mahindra begins trial production of mini-Xylo

Small is beautiful, seems to be the new mantra for India's largest utility vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra. M&M is all set to launch a mini version of its popular car -- Xylo. The trial production has already begun. The car will be launched in the next two months and is likely to be rolled out of company's new plant at Chakan.

A diesel mini-Xylo is expected to be priced around Rs 5 lakh, making it an attractive option for customers buying premium hatchbacks like Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai's i20 or mid-segment sedans like Tata Motors Indigo. Experts also believe that a more fuel efficient diesel sports utility vehicle (SUV) will be much in demand at a time when petrol price hikes are burning a hole in a car owner's pocket. When contacted, M&M declined to comment. M&M's stock on the Bombay Stock Exchange was down 0.10 per cent at Rs 672.45 from previous close.

Speaking on the potential of such a mini-SUV, Automotive Dealers Association of Maharashtra chairman Sandeep Kumar Bafna said, "It's the package which will be of the essence – for example if a company can come out with a mini SUV wherein the price is Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh and it is a diesel product with excellent gearbox, engine and performance. For customers, a mini SUV is something that a person can use as an office going car as well as a weekend car."

Currently most 5-seater SUVs like Suzuki's Vitara are priced above Rs 18 lakhs, which many cannot afford. Even Xylo priced around Rs 8 lakhs is out of reach for many customers. A mini-Xylo could become a volume driver for M&M especially when the Xylo faces stiff competition from the popular Toyota Innova in that segment.

Commenting on the sales outlook for this year, M&M's automotive division CEO Rajesh Jejurikar said, "We have a strong portfolio of brands and we have a lot of products in the pipeline to be launched over the next 12 to 18 months. We are sure we will have a good year."

It also makes strategic sense for M&M to launch a mini-SUV as it wants to leverage its strengths in the utility vehicle market. The company is also expected to launch a global-SUV priced above Xylo later this year. In the second quarter of next year, the company will bring cars like Korando and Rexton to India from Korea's Ssangyong Motor after completing market feasibility studies. M&M completed the acquisition of Ssangyong in March this year and will work closely with Ssangyong for new product development and penetrating international markets.

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.

Volkswagen to make India low-cost export hub

Volkswagen AG will make India a low-cost manufacturing hub catering to select export markets as Europe’s largest car maker tries to emulate the success of global rivals Hyundai Motors and Suzuki Motor Corp. Volkswagen will export from the second quarter of next fiscal fully-built models and completely knocked-down kits of its hatchback, Polo, to South East Asia, Middle East and Africa from its Pune plant, a senior executive said.

The company will launch Polo this month-end in India. The India-made vehicle at Rs 4.5-6 lakh comes at half the European price as the company has been able to ram down costs by sourcing 80% of auto parts from the domestic market. It will help the Polo compete against Hyundai’s i20, which too is exported in large numbers to these markets.

"We are looking at all potential markets for export," said the executive who asked not to be named, adding that many markets in South East Asia and Africa would prefer the India-made Polo for its competitive pricing.

Car exports grew 30% to 3.3 lakh units between April and December last year from a year ago. Hyundai, which shipped 2.15 lakh cars, and Maruti with 1.05 lakh cars were the biggest contributors. Volkswagen, which has set a production target of 50,000 for Polo in 2010, is looking to sell up to 35,000 units in the domestic market and export the rest. The company would ramp up production next year after it launches the sedan version of the Polo, which too is to be exported.

The company’s new plant at Chakan near Pune can manufacture 1.1 lakh cars, including the Polo, other small car models and Skoda Fabia.

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's new all-rounder diesel i20

We have talked about the Hyundai i20 before. We know that Hyundai has been in India for just 10 years (though it feels much longer) and that there is a Hyundai car for every one. We know that from one car initially the company makes 33 variants of passenger cars across different segments. So why should Hyundai’s new i20 have me intrigued again? Because the car we drove earlier had the i10’s Kappa engine in it and now Hyundai has just introduced two new engines – a 1.4L petrol and a 1.4L common rail diesel. With these two new engines Hyundai has just moved up into a new segment and issued a challenge to the other players in the market.

Most things have not changed – Its still a five-door car, with the same dimensions as that of the Kappa-engined version (LxBxH = of 3940mm x 1710mm x 1505mm) and a wheelbase of 2525mm. Features have not changed much either – the AC/heating, the tilt & telescopic steering, split folding rear seats, front & rear power windows, and the multi information display are all there along with keyless entry, height-adjustable driver seat, electrically adjustable door mirrors and airbags.

The i20 definitely attracts attention. It attracted a lot of attention when it was launched at the Paris Motor Show and it still gets eyeballs to turn appreciatively on Indian streets. Under the skin you have MacPherson struts with gas-charged dampers at front and a torsion beam suspension. The rear dampers are also gas-charged shock. The i20 received a5-star rating at the Euro-NCAP crash because of all the active and passive safety equipment incorporated in it, including antilock brakes (ABS) with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD).

Hyundai India to roll out diesel-powered i20 on July 7, 2009

Byoyed by the overwhelming response of the petrol-driven Hyundai i20 in the domestic market, Hyundai India is going a step ahead by launching its diesel variant on 7th July, 2009.

Likely to be fitted with a 1.4L common-rail diesel engine, the new variant is likely to be around 15-20 per cent pricier than the petrol-powered super-hatch, but will offer better fuel economy and improved drivability mainly due to the diesel engine’s higher torque output compared to the petrol.

Unconfirmed media reports also suggest that with the introduction of i20 diesel, Hyundai will also launch the 1.4L petrol version, to be available with an automatic transmission. It is to be mentioned that in the international market, Hyundai already sells i20 with 1.4 lire and 1.6 litre diesel engines.

Bringing Hyundai i20 with 1.4 litre diesel engine will qualify the company for the small car excise norms. However, the official company spokesperson refuses to comment on the engine specifications and other details. Once launched it would be pitted against Ford Fusion, the diesel versions of Maruti Swift & Ritz, Skoda Fabia, Fiat Grande Punto et al.



In India, the Hyundai i20 has managed to buck the trend and is still driving up volumes for the company. Even though the company had priced the i20 at Rs. 4.79 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), its bookings have exceeded the company’s expectations, thus propelling the company to ramp up its production. Though it could not be official confirmed, but sources have revealed that Hyundai India has increased its output from 1,000 units/ month to roughly 1,500-2,000 units per month.

Hyundai, which already has a market share of slightly more than 20 per cent in the passenger cars segment in India, is looking at scaling it up its market share to over 25 per cent by 2012. And for that, it is firming up plans to roll out new products in India, in order to strengthen and expand its portfolio of cars here.

Hyundai i20 Awarded Five Star NCAP Rating For Safety

The European New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) has announced that the Hyundai i20 has gained the maximum possible score and has been awarded the five star NCAP rating for safety. This is indeed a great achievement for a car the size of the i20 as compacts are not known to be high on safety. The i20 after its launch in India and globally has certainly raised the benchmark for compact cars (B segment) not only in terms of performance, build quality, ergonomics and aesthetics but also majorly in terms of occupant and pedestrian safety. And the confirmation of this is the NCAP, 5 star rating which is the first for any car produced in India.

The i20 five-door model scored exceptionally well on all four parameters of the NCAP safety test which assess newly launched cars on four main criteria of safety – adult occupancy, child protection, pedestrian protection and safety assist. The i20 achieved the highest possible score resulting in the highest overall rating.

Notably the i20 attained 88 per cent in the adult occupant protection tests, including the new whiplash assessment. The car’s active head-restraints, front seatbelt, pre-tensioner and six airbags – front, side and curtain – played a key role in achieving success in the tests for frontal, side barrier and car-to-pole impacts.

Equipped with high levels of standard safety equipment, the i20 scored an impressive six out of a maximum seven points in the safety assist category, receiving top marks for its seatbelt reminder and Electronic Stability Control (ESC). The computerized ESC system helps to minimize the risk of skidding by applying brakes to individual wheels to direct the car where the driver wishes to go.

The Hyundai i20 has an extensive list of active and passive safety equipment, including six airbags as standard, active head-restraints, front seat belt pre-tensioners, anti-lock braking system (ABS), Electronic Stability Control, and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD).

The i20 received an average score of 80.25 percent, the highest among the six models assessed under the new NCAP rating scheme. The average is based on scores from the four categories: Adult, 88, Child, 83, Pedestrian, 64, Safety Assist, 86. Further noteworthy is the fact that the 64% score for the pedestrian protection test is the highest among all models.

Commenting on the achievement, a delighted H. S Lheem MD, HMIL said “This is a proud moment for Hyundai. The i20’s five-star rating is recognition of our commitment to providing customers with class leading safety and performance. The i20’s equipment level which includes a set of six airbags is a benchmark for cars in not only this segment but one above. This and other safety features easily allow the i20 to meet the stringent European safety norms and without a doubt the i20 is one of the safest compacts on road today. As a company we are committed to not only meeting the norms but also bettering them through constant research and development. The NCAP rating will undoubtedly increase the appeal of the i20 for our customers.”

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) is the country’s largest passenger car exporter and second largest car manufacturer. The i20 is manufactured at HMIL’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Sreeperumbedur, 35 km outside Chennai. The i20 is only manufactured in India and exported to the European Union and other countries from India and also sold in the domestic market. The i20 was first revealed at the Paris Motor Show in October, 2008 and in November 2008 the first batch was shipped to the European market from HMIL’s Sriperumbedur plant. In India it was launched on December 29, 2009.