Plans to sell around 55% of net production in India; Had exported 48% of net production in 2009.
Korean carmaker and the country's largest exporter Hyundai Motors India Ltd (HMIL) is planning to increase its focus on the domestic market as its hopes to increase the share of domestic sales from 52 per cent last year to 55 per cent of net sales in 2010 calender year.
While the company sees demand boost in the domestic passenger car industry that has grown by around 27 per cent between January to May this year, another reason for reducing dependence on exports is that the weaker euro is likely to eat into the company's profitability.
Y K Koo, senior director, sales and marketing of HMIL said that "while the net volume of exports would remain almost same at around 2.7 lakh units this year, but its share in our overall sales is likely to go down to around 45 per cent from a 48 per cent share last year".
Hyundai exported 2.7 lakh cars and sold around 2.9 lakh cars in the domestic market in 2009. This year, Koo said, the company has clocked around 31 per cent growth so far between January to May, which is higher than the industry average for passenger cars for the same period.
"The second half of the year is likely to see slower growth compared to the first half, and the overall passenger car industry should grow by around 14-15 per cent in 2010 calender year. We are expecting to clock a 16 per cent growth this year," Koo added. The company had sold around 5.6 lakh vechicles last year with 52 per cent of its sales in the domestic market and the remaining was exported.
As the weaker euro starts to affect the profitability of car exports, Hyundai is now looking at reducing its euro-zone exposure. "This year we are looking at increasing our exports to African, West Asian and South East Asian countries", Koo told Business Standard. Hyundai currently exports to around 120 countries from India.
The company enjoys an overall market share of 20.8 per cent leaving aside the Maruti 800 and the Tata Nano segments, Koo claimed. He was talking at the sidelines of the launch of the Hyundai Verna Transform here.
Hyundai has invested close to Rs 60-70 crore for refurbishing the old Verna, and has given it a more stylish and trendy look with the average price going up by around Rs 18,000.
The company has sold around 82,000 Vernas since its launch in September 2006 and the car was selling around 1500 units per month last year. With the new facelift version, Hyundai plans to now increase its sales by around 30 per cent to 2000 cars per month across the country.
"From January to May 2010, the Accent and Verna segment has grown by around 36 per cent in Ahmedabad, while the compact segment comprising the Santro, i-10 and i-20 has grown by 56 per cent. Ahmedabad is the fifth largest market for the Accent and the Verna," Koo said.
