Hyundai to explore SUV category

JAYA BASU

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 7: Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) is exploring an opportunity to enter into the emerging sports utility vehicle (SUV) segment of the domestic automobile market very soon.

While talking to The Indian Express Hyundai’s sales and marketing director B.V.R. Subbu said that “we are interested in making a foray into this market which is growing and is full of opportunities”.

Subbu said “we are primarily looking at SUV range and presently in the process of going through a detailed car clinic and then take a decision”.

No wonder, in the coming Auto Expo, Hyundai pavilion will be adorned with two SUVs called Santa Fe and Terracan from its international portfolio basically to seek customers feedback.

He said that there is a particular category of customers who are interested in SUVs which are still not manufactured in India. These are heavy vehicles and compete straight with Toyota’s Prado and Mitsubishi’s Pajero, Subbu informed.

After getting the response from the market and studying the market size, the company will be deciding on the production route i.e. through SKD or CKD, production cost and volume. The decision regarding this is expected to be taken within a month. The entailed investment and source of capital will be checked later on, said Subbu.

Firstly “we have to see what a consumer is asking for and if there is a demand, we will certainly try to tap that opportunity”, Subbu commented.

Hyundai is also getting a two door sports car called Tuscani for display during the Auto Expo. “It has lots of Italian looks and will be adding colour to our range in the pavilion”, said Subbu. Sports car market in India is still negligible but if some demand is generated for these, we will look at the CBU route, he explained.

With three models — Santro, Accent and Sonata in the market, HMIL has already the second largest car maker in the country. In the calendar year 2001 it registered sale of 90,028 units which is about five per cent up over the sales of the previous calendar year (January-December, 2000) when HMIL registered a total sales of 85,451 units.