South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai Motor today said the development cost for its proposed small car for the Indian market was around Rs 800 crore.
The car would be less than its Santro brand in both price and size, said Han Woo Park, who recently took over as Managing Director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL).
Speaking to reporters here today, his first interaction after he took over, Park said the development cost of the proposed car includes proto-type, testing and design.
He declined to comment further on the launch time and price, but said it would take at least 24 months to launch the car in India.
The company would manufacture the car at Sriperumbudur, near here, for the domestic market and it will also be exported later. He declined to comment on the target countries and when the export would start.
“Going forward, our focus would be increasing the penetration and brand building in India,” said Park. The company is planning to increase the number of dealers to 320 from 274 in 2010. This would help us to maintain our market share of 21 per cent, added Arvind Saxena, Vice President-Marketing and Sales.
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HMIL, which sells popular compact cars like the Santro, I10 and i20, has made India a small car hub for the Korean company, and has been exporting to overseas markets. The company is hoping to grow at the rate of 14-15 per cent, added Saxena. In 2008, cumulative sales of the company were 489,000 units.
Asked whether the company is still thinking of shifting i20 production to Europe, he said the production is still continuing at Sriperumbudur and would do so till early next year. He did not commit on any schedule for the proposed shift of i20 production.
Commenting on exports from India, Saxena said in 2008 the total export was 244,000 units and the company is hoping to close 2009 with export of 270,000 units. He said the i20 contribution would be around 25 per cent.
The current utilisation in Sriperumbudur is around 90 per cent and this would continue next year, too, added Park. Total yearly capacity of both units there is 600,000 units.
Fiat’s small car in India in 2011
Italian automobile giant Fiat is working on an India-specific small car project, expected to hit the market sometime in 2011. To be positioned between the robustly growing A and B segments, this new vehicle could become the volume driver for the iconic car maker’s third coming to the domestic market through Fiat India Automobiles, a 50:50 venture between Fiat Group Automobile SpA and Tata Motors.
“We are in the process of creating a vehicle for India which will be positioned at the mass market. The designing is being undertaken at our headquarters in Turin, Italy. We intend to launch this in 2011 and the prototype is being worked on,” Fiat India Automobiles President and CEO Rajeev Kapoor said in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Royal Enfield mulls sports bikes
Eicher Motors’ niche motorcycle manufacturing division, Royal Enfield, which has a heritage of practical leisure motorcycling for over 100 years, is now considering designing and introducing a wide range of motorcycles to span a variety of genres such as classic sports and touring. “Based on a single-cylinder 500cc unit-construction engine (UCE) platform, we are looking at making sports and touring motorcycles with large capacity engines.
Modalities, including specifications, are being worked out and these bikes will be rolled out over the next three years from our Tiruvottiyur factory in Chennai,” said Shaji Koshy, divisional general manager (marketing).