Rising petrol prices have completely revamped the scenario in the Indian automotive market. Diesel cars have never seen such spotlights before. Earlier considered to be the choice of the hyper milers, truckers and earth movers, diesel fuel have almost become the bread and butter of the car manufacturers. Buoyant by the sudden shift in the market, Hyundai India had plans to set up a 400 Cr plant in India.
However, due to uncertainty, Hyundai has put all those plans on back burner for now.
The company had plans to establish a 1.5 lakh unit per annum capacity plant in India. The plant produces 1.1 litre, 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre capacities only for the domestic market. These engines were for some of the 15 models that the company has planned for the Indian market in the next 5 years.
However, due to slacking demand and unclear intentions of the government about the diesel pricing, Hyundai is forced to put all plans on standby.
Hyundai Motor’s domestic sales in the month of October fell by 4.95% to 33,001 units from 34,720 units in the same month last year. The export volumes have also dropped by 12.42%.
For now, the company will continue to import diesel engines for their i20 and Verna models from Korea.
[Inputs from Rediff.com]
