Hyundai's next million in 30 months

Car maker crosses 1 million milestone, to ramp up sales network.

After rolling out a million cars in a record 90 months, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMI) today said it would roll out the next one million in just 30 months.

"Right from setting up the plant in about 17 months to becoming the second largest car manufacturer in just six months of operations to rolling out 150,000 cars in about 25 months and the fastest 200,000th export rollout in less than six years, the company has been a trend setter in the Indian automotive industry," HS Lheem, managing director, HMI, said at a ceremony to mark the rollout of the millionth Hyundai car in the country.

To achieve the ambitious target, the company has an aggressive plan for new launches.

"We will launch a new successor for the Accent by October and a hi-tech diesel version of the Sonata by the end of the year," said Lheem, adding that from next year, Hyundai would be launching two new models in the A2 or A3 segment every year.

The company is also planning to scale up its domestic sales network from 157 to 300 and the number of export distributors from 55 to 150 worldwide by 2008.

He said the company had chalked out a plan to develop Indian operations as a major hub for exporting compact cars to overseas markets.

Asked about Hyundai India's contribution to Hyundai's global production capacity, Lheem said Hyundai's cumulative total production during the year was estimated at about 2.8 million cars and India's share would be 3 lakh.

However, when the production capacity of India reaches 6 lakh in the next couple of years, it expects to account for 15-20 per cent of the cumulative production.