Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Oct 07, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Corporate
-
Announcements Hyundai plans to double capacity at TN facility Our Bureau
New Delhi , Oct. 6 FACED by a capacity constraint following increased demand from the domestic and international markets for the Santro Xing, Hyundai Motor India is planning to spend about $200 million or Rs 1,000 crore in a bid to double capacity at its facility in Tamil Nadu by August-September 2004. "We are presently conducting the engineering and financial feasibility of a plan to expand capacity to 2,50,000 units a year from 1,20,000 units," Mr B.V.R. Subbu, President of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, said. The company has already invested about $700 million in India. The company intends to hire about 800 more workers once the capacity expansion exercise is complete. Hyundai currently has a workforce of about 2,700. Hyundai's export commitments are constraining its ability to sell cars in the domestic market. "We are running a backlog on exports, so much so that we may not be able to give our local dealers virtually any car during December,'' Mr Subbu said. The company has been seeing higher sales in retail when compared to wholesale in the past few months. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor India would be rolling out an upgraded version of the premium sedan `Sonata' this week, at the same price (Rs 11.30 lakh) as the existing GLS model. Terming it as a ``refurbished'' version of the current `GLS' model, Mr Subbu said the new 2.0-litre `S-20' car would have beige interiors, fully automatic air-conditioning and new music system. However, despite adding new features in the new Sonata, the company said that it has been able to maintain the same pricing due to cost cutting measures including reduction in dealer margins. Speaking on future launches, Mr Subbu said that the Getz and Elantra would be launched only in the second quarter of next year. He further ruled out the launch of a new-look model of its mid-size car `Accent' before 2005. Hyundai's sales jumped by 44.4 per cent to 79,226 units in April-September 2003.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|