Hyundai posts Rs 5,000 crore turnover in 2003-04

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), the country's second biggest carmaker, recorded a sales turnover of about Rs 5,000 crore during 2003-04, driven by a 53 per cent jump in car sales at 171,903 units.

The company now plans to launch its fifth model, the premium sedan 'Elantra' this month and a premium small car 'Getz' by September 2004 as it aims to sell over 200,000 lakh cars in the current fiscal.

The wholly owned subsidiary of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Company said exports alone contributed Rs 1,000 crore to the total turnover.

This fiscal, HMIL will aim to maintain the same growth in turnover and car sales, president B V R Subbu said. The company had posted a gross profit of Rs 500 crore over a sales turnover of Rs 4,000 crore during 2002-03.

The flagship brand Santro recorded a 51 per cent jump in sales at 135,767 units, while that of mid-size car, Accent, climbed 64 per cent to 34,594 units during the year. Sales of luxury car Sonata and sports-utility-vehicle Terracan stood at 1,224 and 318 units, respectively, during the year.

The company also recorded a 370 per cent growth in export sales to 42,113 units. This was owing to increased shipments of the 'Santro' to Europe, Mexico and other countries.

Subbu said prices of the Accent is likely to be hiked from later this month followed by the Santro owing to higher input costs, specially steel. The extent of the price increase will be decided later, he said but added that the Sonata will be spared from any hike.

"We are planning to launch the Elantra later this month and the Getz in the second quarter of this fiscal," he said. The Elantra will be launched in both petrol and diesel engines with 1800cc or 2000cc engines. The Getz will have a 1300cc petrol engine. While the Elantra is expected to compete with models such as Toyota Corolla and Skoda Octavia, the Getz will be positioned in the crowded compact car segment.

To cater to increasing sales, HMIL has invested an additional $220 million to expand production capacity at its Chennai plant by 100,00 units to 250,000 units.

The new capacity will go onstream by August this year. This will enable the company to take care of additional demand from the domestic and overseas markets, according to Subbu.