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New in the stable: Mr H.S. Lheem, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, at the launch of `Hyundai i20' in the Capital on Monday. - Ramesh Sharma

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Dec. 29 Hyundai Motor India Ltd on Monday said it expected to close the current calendar year producing 4.85 lakh units, 8 per cent lower than the 5.3 lakh units it had originally planned. The company said the slump in the demand in the European markets lowered its first shipment for i20 to 15,000 units as against an order book of 30,000 units it had anticipated.

“We had originally planned to produce 5.3 lakh cars, equally divided between domestic and exports. But we would be making about 4.8 lakh by the end of the year. In terms of sales, we could reach 4.9 lakh units,” said Mr H.S. Lheem, Managing Director, at the launch of its premium compact car i20.

He said of the 4.9 lakh units of cars, the company expected domestic sales to touch 2.35 lakh units. However, the company would marginally fall short of its export target by shipping about 2.55 lakh units compared to the 2.65 it was hoping earlier in the year.

The company exports its premium compact car such as the i10, the Santro hatchback, Getz amongst other models. Passenger car sales dipped 19 per cent last month on a year-on year basis. Most car makers were impacted including Hyundai whose sales fell by 23 per cent.

The company launched its premium compact car i20 equipped with a 1.2 litre petrol engine starting at Rs 4.79 lakh for the base model and Rs 5.81 lakh for the top end variant (ex-showroom Delhi). Hyundai also intends to launch a diesel variant for the home market depending on the demand.

“With the launch of the i20, we are targeting customers in the higher end of the compact cars. We believe this category will grow further,” said Mr Arvind Saxena, Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Hyundai Motor India.

The company plans to export 1,20,000 units and sell 20,000 units domestically of its newly launched car.

Mr Lheem said the economic slowdown had begun to hit its export orders for i20.

“We were expecting an export order of 30,000 units. But our first shipment stood at 15,000 units. For January we hoped to receive an order of 25,000 units. But we have received only 9,000 units, 11,000 units for February and only 4,000 units for March,” he said.

Mr Lheem pleaded that in view of the current slowdown in the market, the Government should extend export incentive schemes like the focus market to more countries where it exported.

On its outlook for the domestic market, Mr Lheem commented, “We have been able to clear most of our inventory due to price cuts and discounts. January looks depressing. This time we are considering a less than 2 per cent price increase from next year.”

When asked about the lay offs at its Chennai plant due to the company slashing production to a two shift operation from three shifts, the Hyundai President, Mr Ashok Jha, said, “There are no lay-offs. We are phasing out our trainees. We have about 1,200 trainees. So once their contract is over, there will be no fresh recruitments.”

The company also indicated that it would launch a new variant of its luxury sedan Sonata next month.

More Stories on : Outlook | New Products & Services | Cars

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