The country’s largest passenger vehicle exporter, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), on Thursday marked the production of its 3 millionth export car with the roll out of its new sub-4 metre compact sedan Aura at its Irrungattukottai factory near Chennai.
The 3-millionth car Aura (named Grandi10 for exports) was rolled out for the Colombian market. Aura was launched for the Indian market on January 21.
SS Kim, Managing Director and CEO, HMIL, termed the company’s latest milestone as “the fastest made-in-India 3-millionth export roll out.”
Cumulatively, the Chennai factory has produced over 9 million cars both for domestic and export markets in the past 21 years.
Major milestones
HMIL began exporting cars in 1999 with the first batch of 20 Santros to Nepal and reached to the first milestone of exporting 1,00,000 cars in four years and ten months in October 2004.
In March, 2008 it exported its 5,00,000car followed by its 1,000,000 car and 2,000,000th car in February 2010 and March 2014, respectively.
Over the past two decades, the company has been maintaining its leadership position in the export of passenger cars from India.
‘Made in india’ models
The company currently sells 10 ‘Made in India’ models in 88 countries - Latin America (33 countries), Africa (28 countries), Asia Pacific (26 countries) and Europe (1 country).
In APAC region, specifically in Saudi Arabia market, both Creta and Accent hold the segment leadership with 40 per cent and 33 per cent market share, respectively. In Nepal, Hyundai is the leading brand in the overall passenger car market with a market share of 29 per cent. In the African region, specifically in Libya, Hyundai claims the no.1 position, holding 80 per cent of the market share.
“The Chennai factory, as an export hub, will gain greater prominence with the Hyundai Motor Group. We will continue to focus on shipping assembled vehicles, parts and components in CKD format and power trains to emerging markets,” said Kim.
In 2019, Hyundai Motor India exported 1,81,200 units with 792 customised variants according to country-specific preference and demand.
Over the last two decades, the company has invested about ₹24,000 crore at its manufacturing operations near Chennai. The company has also announced an additional investment of ₹7,000 crore for new product launches, new technology and powertrain enhancements.