Hyundai starts exporting the i20

Announcing the commencement of exports of the premium compact car, the i20, from the Sriperumbudur plant, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) said despite market slowdown and its impact on exports, it is confident of achieving strong growth both in domestic and export markets. The automaker has set an ambitious export target for 2009.The first consignment of 2,820 units of the i20 were shipped to several countries in Europe. The new i20 will be produced at Sriperumbudur plant exclusively for the European market, reiterating Hyundai’s strategy to make India a small car export hub.
The company had plans to produce 6,000 units of the i20 during October.However, distributors in several countries had cancelled and deferred the orders because of the international market crisis and therefore it is making a smaller initial shipment.Nevertheless, it has export orders for more than 30,000 units of the i20 that will be shipped before the end of this year to the European market.
“We plan to launch the i20 for the Indian market by next month or early 2009,” said H S Lheem, managing director, HMIL Enthused by the response to the i20, Hyundai is looking to export 120,000 units mainly to the European market and sell 15,000 units of the car in the Indian market during 2009. However, Lheem said HMIL felt the heat of global economic slowdown on the export front and is expected to see a drop of 25 per cent in its exports during 2008. However, it indicated that its strong focus on small cars with a range of good models had put the car maker in a better position than others.
HMIL had set a target of 560,000 units, including 270,000 units for exports, for 2008. “We hope to reach a mark of 515,000 units by the end of this calendar year,” Lheem added.
He also indicated that the company would stick to its business plan despite tough market conditions and launch at least two new models every year.“We are developing a new model for the Indian market. The new model will be smaller than the Santro