Will help increase supply to the market.
As per a new report from BTVi, Hyundai India will jointly produce cars with Kia Motors at the latter's new plant in Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh, in a relationship similar to Volkswagen and Skoda in India.
This will help Hyundai Motor India Ltd to increase supply to export and domestic markets, as their sole plant in Sri Perumbadur, Tamil Nadu is running at a full capacity. Kia Motors is investing nearly INR 12,000 crore in the new production plant and is reported to utilize 50 percent of the plant's 300,000 production capacity, while Hyundai will make use of the other 50 per cent to be future-ready.
As both Kia and Hyundai products share platforms, Kia will be able to leverage the existing supplier base of Hyundai India. The AP plant is reported to commence production in 2019, while an announcement of its Indian operations could be made this year.
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Although Kia hasn't divulged any info on the local product lineup, we expect the new Picanto to be in the plan. It would be easy and cost-effective for Kia to manufacture the Picanto in India, given that it shares its platform and engine lineup with the Hyundai Grand i10. Other products expected are the Kia Rio, Kia Rio sedan, Kia Soul crossover, Kia Sportage and even the Elantra-based Kia Forte.
Like Hyundai, expect Kia to also introduce heavily adapted and for-India models.
[Source: BTVi]
