After Japanese auto giant Honda Motor Corporation announced plans of bringing in hybrid variants into the country, India’s second largest passenger carmaker — Hyundai Motor India Ltd — seems to be following the former’s footsteps. The Korean automaker on Monday announced from Seoul an ambitious plan to mass produce hybrid electric vehicles — some of which could come into the country in due course of time.

The company will kickstart its hybrid venture globally with the Avante and produce a small fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles by 2012. Interestingly, Avante is set to replace the existing premium sedan Elantra in the country later this year and company officials said that once the hybrid Avante is out elsewhere, it would come to India as well. “The plans are futuristic and, for the time being, based completely out of Korea. But as hybrids find more acceptance and emission norms get tightened here they will find their way into India as well,” said a company official.

World-over, the auto industry — led by Japanese companies like Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi — are looking at hybrids in an attempt to cut down on emission hazards as also the dependency on fossil fuel. “The importance of developing futuristic, environmentally-friendly cars is increasing for sustainable growth,” Hyundai-Kia chairman Chung Mong Koo said. “Therefore, technology for advanced cars, like the hybrid, is imperative. We plan to produce a small fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles from 2012. Mass production of environmentally-friendly cars will also create new jobs and develop the industry into a next-generation value-adding growth engine.”

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