India base for Hyundai small car Pa

India will be the exclusive manufacturing hub for Hyundai's small car code-named Pa, B Mani, senior general manager(customer care service) of Hyundai Motor India Limited(HMIL) said.

HMIL, the country's biggest car exporter, would first launch Pa in India, which is likely to be launched by the year-end.

The company's planned diesel Getz was expected to sell well.

"HMIL has also set an ambitious target of exporting 2.5 lakh cars from the country in the next two years, up from 1,13,339 units which were exported last year. Hyundai's new manufacturing facility, slated to come near its existing plant near Chennai will be operationalised by October this year", Mani added.

The new facility would have a production capacity of 3,00,000 units per annum, thereby scaling up HMIL's overall capacity to 6,00,000 units per annum.

The company, which currently sells 15,000 units of all its models countrywide is aiming a sales volume of 18,000 units for the upcoming fiscal, BS Jeong, senior general manager of HMIL told mediapersons.

The share of eastern India in the overall sales volume is also expected to grow from the existing 9 per cent to 15 per cent by 2010. At present, Hyundai sells around 1,000 units per month in eastern India.

Putting to rest all speculation regarding phasing out of Santro following the launch of Pa, Jeong said, "There is no possibility of Hyundai phasing out Santro which happens to be our largest selling car in India. Out of our sales target of 18,000 units per annum, 14,000 will be that of Santro."

In another development, HMIL, the country's second largest car manufacturer in a bid to strengthen its brand image has launched a unique customer centric initiative called 'Greeting Activity' in eastern India.

The programme, kicked off in eastern India, would cover 183 cities across the country. The 'Greeting Activity' will be supplemented by Hyundai's ongoing 'Always Around' campaign wherein the Hyundai dealers would reach out to the customers and organise free check-up of Hyundai models.

The Hyundai team will visit areas like amusement parks, shopping complexes, office complexes and also residential areas, where there is a significant concentration of Hyundai customers.

This initiative means that the Hyundai customers need not have to visit the Hyundai srvice stations. Till now, HMIL has contacted about 10,000 customers through this initiative.