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Hyundai could explore building a car from scratch in India, independent of expertise from South Korea.
Hyundai Motor India, the country’s second-largest car maker, could follow in market leader Maruti Suzuki’s footsteps, giving more power to its local research and development (R&D) centre to facilitate the development of new cars.
Maruti Suzuki, which accounts for every second car sold in India, is investing Rs 2,000 crore in a greenfield R&D centre in Rohtak, Haryana.
Maruti Suzuki employs 1,000 engineers. Sources said the headcount at Hyundai Motor India Engineering (HMIE) in Hyderabad could be raised from 500 engineers to upgrade it from a customisation clinic to a full-fledged development centre. The centre was set up as Hyundai’s global hub for engineering small cars.
Recent success with the Grand i10, Xcent and i20 Elite, which carry significant inputs from HMIE, has given Hyundai confidence about locally developed cars. HMIE has been tuning Hyundai cars such as the Grand i10 to suit Indian customers.
Compact sedan Xcent, launched in March, was a joint effort by HMIE and Hyundai Motor Company Namyang R&D Engineers, South Korea. The premium hatchback i20 Elite, which recorded about 15,300 bookings in 20 days, is to be sold only in India.
“Today, most products are designed in South Korea or Germany. We have invested in the R&D centre in India and would like to develop our own base. It is always a dream for an R&D centre to create a product of its own. We would like to build capability to that level,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), Hyundai Motor India.
Local development of a car will allow Hyundai to have more control on costs, as it will use Indian expertise and components. Localisation for present-generation Hyundai cars will also rise from the average 85-90 per cent.
Cars due from the Hyundai stable include a compact sports utility vehicle and a multi-purpose vehicle. “We will bring one new product every year for the next couple of years and refurbish some of our existing products,” Srivastava said.
HMIE which saw an investment of Rs 184 crore, is aimed at further accelerating local content development and enable the company to respond even more quickly to changing customer needs across the world.
The R&D Centre is helping develop vehicles which includes their styling, design engineering and vehicle test and evaluation. The R&D Centre will play a pivotal role for cars manufactured in India in order to satisfy the specific needs of the local customers.
