Hyundai expects demand surge to continue till March: MD & CEO S S Kim

Hyundai expects the surge in demand for cars to remain till March 2021, according to S S Kim, MD and CEO of the India arm.

“We did an internal study and estimated that there were 1 million buyers — who would have made a purchase during the period — to buy in the near future. This demand will last till the first quarter of CY21. After that, there might be a lull,” said Kim.

Festive season demand drove four-wheeler and two-wheeler sales to a record high in October, but industry executives and auto dealers remain skeptical of the momentum continuing.

Hyundai recorded its highest-ever domestic sales with cumulative figures of 68,835 units for October, 8 per cent higher than last year.

On Thursday, it launched its all-new 2020 model of the popular i20, which may be one of the biggest upgrades the line-up has received since its launch 12 years ago. The new variant offers a host of new design elements to keep up with competition, as well as a feature-packed interior.

Priced between Rs 6.79 lakh and Rs 11.17 lakh, the fourth generation of the model comes with both petrol and diesel powertrains, and will compete with the likes of Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Tata Motors Altroz, and Toyota Glanza.

Tarun Garg, director (sales & marketing, and service), said the carmaker was confident of sustained demand thanks to higher disposable income. “Customers have saved a lot of money as they haven’t travelled in the last few months, and have reduced eating out. These customers are looking to buy a car,” said Garg. 

Hyundai is among the few to have continued betting on diesel engines despite rivals discontinuing diesel variants. The share of diesel variants for the industry has come down to  20.6 per cent in Q1FY21, scompared to 29.5 percent last year.