Facing stiff competition from Tata Motors which has jumped ahead to emerge as the number two car manufacturer in the country, Korean auto major Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) today announced that it will launch five new small cars this year in a bid to reinstate its market position. Hyundai also revealed its plans to launch a diesel variant of its bread and butter Santro but refused to give any timeline.

First off the block will be an environment-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) version of the Santro within two months. “The demand for CNG vehicles is huge in Delhi and Mumbai and as the supply is strengthened in other cities, it will go up. Hence, we will launch a bi-fuel version of Santro, which will run on both gasoline and CNG in the coming summer. A feasibility study for other fuel options like LPG is on too,” said HMIL managing director H S Lheem.

Hyundai, which started exporting the compact car Getz today, will also launch three versions of the car in the domestic market. The car will be rechristened Getz Prime and will have three variants with 1.1 litre and 1.3 litre petrol engines and a 1.5 litre diesel engine. “The 1.1 litre petrol engine will basically enable us to take advantage of the excise duty cut in last year’s budget but it will not cannibalise the demand for Santro, even though the engine is the same. The 1.3 litre Getz that we have here today will get a facelift with the same engine while the diesel variant will come in the second half of the year,” Lheem said.

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