Hyundai is on a roll and the company has received terrific response for its latest launch, the Elite i20 which has garnered more than 15,300 bookings within just 20 days of launch which is the highest ever for a Hyundai product in the country. The second generation i20 continues Hyundai’s run of launching successful models in the country, the previous launches like the Santa Fe, Xcent and Grand i10 have been received very well by the market. In fact, all of Hyundai’s cars are doing quite well in the country, with the exception of the Sonata, the lack of an oil burner hurting its prospects in the diesel favoured D-segment.
India’s number two automaker, Hyundai isn’t stopping just yet and has charted out plans to enter new segments by launching a compact SUV and MPV in the next couple of years. The ix25 which goes on sale in China on 9th October is set for an India launch next year and recently commenced testing in the country. Hyundai’s domestic market demand is soaring which has led to the company reducing exports, helping them better cater to local demand for their products. Hyundai has altogether stopped exports to Europe with the Korean car maker’s Turkey plant producing cars for the European market.
Hyundai is also considering the set-up of a new factory in India although nothing concrete has emerged yet. The automaker which has a plant in Chennai, might need higher capacity with the launch of their compact SUV. Although the current plant can churn out slightly more than 7 lakh units per annum, that won’t be enough to meet the expected demand for Hyundai’s upcoming cars. The company is likely to consider Gujarat for setting up a new manufacturing facility, the state seeing investments from Tata Motors, Ford and Maruti Suzuki in recent times.
