The Hindu Business Line : Hyundai launches SUV Tucson

IN a bid to consolidate its position in the premium sports utility vehicle space, Hyundai Motor India today launched its second SUV `Tucson' in the country.

The company, which hopes to sell 150-200 units of the vehicle per month, would be bringing it as a completely-built unit (CBU).

The Tucson has been priced at Rs 14.3 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and Rs 15.8 lakh (ex-showroom Chennai).

``Though in the same segment, Terracan and Tucson are different vehicles. While Terracan is a full-fledged SUV, Tucson is a softer SUV that complements as a car, a SUV and a MPV. Both the products would therefore, co-exist in our portfolio,'' Mr B.V.R. Subbu, President, Hyundai Motor India, told reporters.

Powered by a 2-litre CRDi diesel engine, Tucson comes with `torque on demand' four-wheel drive combining both automatic and manual drive.

The company is aiming to sell 1,500-2,000 units of the Tucson annually even as it hopes to maintain the about 500-unit sale of Terracan.

The vehicle will primarily compete with models like Ford's Endeavour, and Honda's CR-V.

Meanwhile with its expansion strategy in place, the company said it expected total sales to grow around 16 per cent this fiscal to 2,60,000 units.

``We have faced capacity constraints and would be able to address this issue with the coming up of our new plant by 2007. We feel that sales this year would be in the range of 2.6 lakh units,'' Mr Subbu said.

Sales for the company grew 30 per cent in the just-ended fiscal at 2,24,243 units and Mr Subbu said the turnover for the year ended March 31, 2005, is expected at Rs 7,500 crore (inclusive of taxes). Mr Steve S. Yang, Managing Director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India, said that he expected the Indian subsidiary to account for 8 per cent of Hyundai's total global sales by 2010.

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