The company also plans to export components to South Korea to help the parent company meet the increased demand for the Atos model - an 800-cc model on the same platform as the Santro. It is undertaking a feasibility study to ascertain if HMIL can manufacture fully-built Atos in India for export to South Korea. This was announced by Chung Mong Gyu, chairman, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), on the occasion of the inauguration of the HMIL plant near Chennai. ``A switch from right-hand to left-hand drive involves both investment and time,'' the HMC chief said. No decision has been taken on that front so far.

The Korean company has invested Rs 2,300 crore in India so far. The HMIL plant in Irungattukottai in Sriperumbudur district near Chennai has an installed capacity of 1,20,000units. In the second phase of expansion in 2003 AD, the company plans to increase the investment to the tune of US $ 1 billion. The company hopes to sell 20,000 cars during the current financial year and 65,000 during the next financial year, HMIL's director (Marketing), B V R Subbu, said here yesterday.

The HMIL Managing Director Yang Soo Kim said the plant had been commissioned in a record time of 17 months. It was a pace-setter in indigenisation components in Santro to the tune of 70 per cent in the first year itself, he added. HMIL has already set up 70 dealerships, 70 workshops and 70 showrooms in India so far.