Hyundai on track for January launch of small car

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has indicated that its compact car, the smallest offering thus far from its stable, is on track for launch in January 2012.

Korean automotive major sees this car as a very important part of its business plan to consolidate its market share. The small car segment, where the new offering fits, is pretty huge for any car maker to stay away.

The Senior Director (Sales and Marketing), HMIL, Mr Y.K.Koo, said, “work on the car has been underway by its research teams spread across in various locations, including at its Global R&D centre in Korea and its design centre in Hyderabad. The design work has been completed and we are on rack to roll it out later this year after completing various tests.”

Speaking to

Business Line on the sidelines of launch of Verna here, Mr Koo said HMIL has managed to bring a series of new models into the market starting with Santa Fe, its sports utility vehicle, Hyundai i-10, following it with i-20, new upgraded Santro and now with the fluidic range of Verna sedans.

Sales

HMIL sold about 3.56 lakh in the domestic market last year and expects to touch 4 lakh during the current year, taking the market share up from about 19 per cent last year to over 20 per cent.

This growth would be possible by sustaining the current volumes and selling about 4,000 to 5,000 Vernas a month.