Hyundai lines up eight new cars in four years to cater to Indian demand

Korean auto major Hyundai is planning to launch eight new cars in the next four years to accelerate its growth. Of these, three will be in new segments and the other five cars will get a facelift.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd's (HMIL’s) Managing Director Y K Koo said that in the next four years, the company will bring at least ten new products to India, including eight new launches.

In 2017, Hyundai launched the Grand i10 facelift in India and this will be followed by a car for the compact segment and a sedan for the mid-segment.

The year 2018 will see the new Ioniq Hybrid, which will be showcased at AutoServe 2018 and will be placed in the same segment in which the Elantra operates. Select models will be launched in the Hybrid format going forward.

While the company is strong in the compact segment, it has a weak mid-segment product. Even though Verna has been addressing the market, the competitors have brought in new technology and features, by which this segment for the company was affected. The company will come back in this segment in future, he said.

By the second half of 2018, a family concept and designed car will be launched, said Koo. He ruled out the possibility of tall boy concept. Compact segment constitutes around 51 per cent in the overall passenger car segment in India and Hyundai is very strong with products including Grand i10, i20, Creta and others.

The new product will be placed above Eon, which is the entry level car for HMIL in India. In 2019, the company plans to launch a sub 4 meter SUV. Hyundai had showcased Carlino in 2016 and the new SUV will be based on this concept.

Hyundai's existing SUV 'Creta' is a key volume driver for the company currently.

"We are bullish about the growth in India and globally India is a very important market for Hyundai," said Koo. HMIL's contribution for the overall Hyundai's sales last year was 13.6 per cent and in January this was increased to 15 per cent.

However, the company had a tough time in the market during November and December due to demonetisation. It is expecting the condition will improve from April.

After China and US, India is the third largest market for Hyundai globally. HMIL's export share has come down to around 25-30 per cent from around 40 per cent due to a slowdown in the Africa and Middle East market. The company is utilising the capacity to cater the domestic demand, said Koo.

Last year the company sold little over 5,00,000 units in India, while it produced 6,50,000 units. Koo said that the existing capacity at the facility near Chennai will be sufficient for the next 3-4 years.

In 2017, the company expects high single-digit growth over 2016. The company hopes to close with a market share of around 17-18 per cent by end of 2017.