The Hindu Business Line : Hyundai plans to launch ‘public’ car

Snapshot
Denying that Hyundai will join the race in the one-lakh car category, Mr Lheem said the company believes that with such an ultra low-cost car, all the demands of customers cannot be met.

S.Muralidhar

New Delhi, Jan. 10 The 9th Auto Expo seems to have heralded a new season for small cars. Close on the heels of Ford announcing that it will invest $500 million in India for a possible new small car and Tata Motor’s debut of its People’s car, Hyundai has now joined in by saying that it is planning to develop what it calls a ‘public car’.

Speaking to Business Line at the sidelines of the Auto Expo here, Mr H.S. Lheem, Managing Director of Hyundai Motor India, said the company is in the process of conducting a very detailed feasibility study for a possible ‘public car’ that could be launched in the next four years.

“We are starting to look at development work for a possible car that will be relevant for the market for passenger cars in the Santro segment,” he said.

Denying that Hyundai will join the race in the one-lakh car category, Mr Lheem said the company believes that with such an ultra low-cost car, all the demands of customers cannot be met. But, Hyundai believes that markets similar to India such as in other Asian countries, China and the developing countries of Latin America, there is a potential market for a Public car.

Other plans

Speaking about the other plans of the company, which is the country’s second largest small car manufacturer and exporter, he said that exports of cars from the Indian operations will now expand to include 70 countries compared to 65 last year. The company is targeting total sales of 5.3 lakh cars, including exports of about 2.6 lakh cars, during calendar year 2008 compared to 3.27 lakh units sold and exported during 2007.

There has been considerable speculation about whether Hyundai Motor will enter the commercial vehicles segment soon. Speaking about the company’s plans Mr Lheem said that HMI is very interested and plans to enter the commercial vehicles space later this year, and would first launch buses, before looking at the possibility of entering the trucks segment.

Bus plans

He said that the company is talking to two potential local partners who will do the body building work for the buses. Hyundai will import the chassis frame for the 20-25 seater buses and the body building will be done locally, Mr Lheem said. The Indian subsidiary of the Korean company is also conducting feasibility studies for introducing the Santa Fe, premium sports utility vehicle and a potential replacement for the Elantra model. The Elantra was phased out in the Indian market last year.