Next year is reserved for compact SUV and crossover.
2015 will see Hyundai Motor India Limited enter the compact SUV/crossover space with the Elite i20 Cross and the ix25 SUV. Then in 2016, the Korean car maker intends on debuting in the MPV segment, to challenge Maruti harder.
Speaking to the Business Standard, Rakesh Srivastava, vice-president for marketing and sales, HMIL, said that the MPV will not launch before 2016, as next year will see the compact SUV and crossover launch from the company. The publication states that all three products (MPV, crossover, compact SUV) will have a localization content of not less than 90 percent.
All three are expected to contribute significantly to HMIL's volumes. Anticipating this, the car maker freed up production capacity at its Chennai plant by shifting exports of the i10 for Europe to its Turkish plant. HMIL's plant can produce 680,000 units/annum which can be increased to 700,000 units if needed.
Also read: Hyundai Elite i20 is Indian car of the year; Gets 60,000 bookings
HMIL expects to finish 2014 with sales of 411,000 cars, its highest ever till date. The company delivered its 400,000th car last Tuesday. HMIL will be the second car manufacturer in India to sell more than 400,000 cars/annum, the first being Maruti Suzuki.
Competitors: Honda Mobilio, Toyota Innova, Maruti Ertiga
Expected Price: INR 7-11 lakhs, ex-Showroom
Launch date: 2016
[Source - Business Standard]
