The Hindu Business Line : Hyundai plans overseas component supply from India

New Delhi, Sept. 7 Hyundai Motors India Ltd plans to source auto components from its Indian vendors to supply to its overseas manufacturing facilities.

“We want to allow our Indian component vendors to participate in bidding for our overseas facilities as soon as possible,” said Mr Heung Soo Lheem, Managing Director and CEO.

Recently, companies like BMW and General Motors (GM) also announced plans to source components from India for their global operations.

While BMW would make its international purchasing office operational soon, GM CEO Mr Rick Wagoner also stated during his visit in April that the company intends to source components worth $1 billion by 2010.

Mr Lheem said that Hyundai was sharing manufacturing facilities with its plants in China, Turkey, South Korea and the US with regard to import of certain components from these countries and exports of some of them from its production facility here.

“We are importing some components from these countries and exporting components like body panel to Turkey and engine components and assembly units to Korea and we would like to increase this,” he said, refusing to divulge details on the size of export opportunity that the company intends to give to its Indian suppliers.

He said that the company planned to source components from the local vendors for exports, but cited concerns regarding quality and price as against competition from some of the other countries.

“We are not concerned about the quality of the tier-I suppliers but across the industry. They have to match the superior quality standards for the kind of products required in the European nations. We are not complaining at the moment so much about price competitiveness of India vis-À-vis other countries,” said Mr Lheem.

Hyundai Motors India, which exported about 1.15 lakh cars last year, expects the number to increase to about 1.50 lakh this year.

It has been witnessing almost flat sales in the domestic market.

With the company’s second plant likely to be operational soon, domestic sales would pick up, said Mr Lheem.

Currently, the company produces about three lakh cars, which would get doubled when manufacturing at the new plant commences.

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