Hyundai Motor India, which is gearing up to foray into small cars, is planning to make India its hub for rolling out such cars. Besides starting to export from its Chennai plant beginning next year, it is also planning to augment four-fold its R&D team in India.
Hyundai Motor India Managing Director and CEO Heung Soo Lheem said design and technical analysis work on the small car project has already started at its R&D unit in Hyderabad. The R&D team, he said, would be increased from the present 250 to 800 by 2009 and will coordinate with Hyundai's global R&D headquarters at Ulsan in Korea.
According to Lheem, the small car will be launched by 2010 and meet the demands of India and emerging markets.
He added the small car would not vie with Tata Motors' Nano, the world's cheapest car with a pricetag of Rs 1 lakh. But he assured that it will be competitively priced.
Lheem said the car company had exported 42 per cent of its vehicles to over 95 countries. In the second half, the figure is likely to rise to 50 per cent.
The company will jack up production capacity to 6.3 lakh cars and plans to start a third shift in this regard.
Hyundai has an engine and transmission plant in Chennai. The unit was set up for $ 250 million and can produce of 2.5 lakh units a year.
The Korean major is also contemplating options to export its latest 54-mpeg car to the US. i10, the premium hatchback model from the Hyundai stable, has been highly successful in India, crossing the 1 lakh-mark for exports in about 7 months of its launch.
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