Hyundai expects to roll out mass market electric vehicle in 3 years

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) is expected to roll out a mass market electric vehicle product in two to three years.

The company expects the second half of the year to show improvement in domestic market and while there are concerns about the comparitively higher price for the BS-VI models, there might also excitement among the customers on the new technology, said Tarun Garg, director, sales and marketing division, HMIL.

With some of the diesel vehicle manufacturers planning to stop diesel vehicle models in the wake of BS-VI implementation, the company is expecting a growth in the market but the demand may not be fully met initially considering the lack of adequate capacity available.

The company is also targeting export of up to 200,000 passenger cars in the year 2020. It exported 181,200 in 2019.

On Thursday, it rolled out the three millionth made-in-India export car from its factory at Sriperumbudur, about 40 km from here.
The company is India’s largest passenger car exporter, at 26 per cent of all shipments in 2019. In 2018, it had exported 160,010 of the total of 700,121 passenger cars from India.

S S Kim, managing director, said the export aim this year was 190,000-200,000 unit export. The three-millionth car, an Aura, name for the exported Grand i10, will be sent to Colombia. It began car export in 1999, with 20 Santros to Nepal. A total of 100,000 was reached in 2004 and the first million in March 2010. The next million was in March 2014.

“We have been exporting cars from this facility to 88 countries — Africa, Middle East, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. There is growing interest from South Africa, Saudi Arabia and others,” said Kim.

He said the company had invested around Rs 24,000 crore in India into infrastructure enhancement, technology and other areas. And, committed to invest another Rs 7,000 crore in new products, new technology and the like.

In calender year 2019, of the 181,200 unit export, there were 792 customised variants, according to country preference and demand. The company currently exports 10 models. These include the Atios (Santro), Grand i10, Xcent, Grand i10 (NIOS), Etios i20 and the Creta.

It expects to launch a mass-market electric vehicle in two to three years.

The company expects the second half of 2020 to show imporvement in India market sales. While there are concerns about the comparitively higher price for models compatible with the new BS-VI emission standards (compulsory for all kakers from April 1), there might also be excitement among customers on the new technology, said Tarun Garg, director for sales and marketing.