Hyundai eyes top slot in premium segment with 2 more launches

Having established itself among leaders in volume segment, Hyundai Motor India is eyeing top position in the premium vertical with plans to launch two models this year to achieve the target.

The company, which posted its best ever sales of 4.84 lakh units in the domestic market in 2015-16, aims to be the leading player in Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh price bracket.

"Creta has become the highest selling product in the above Rs 10 lakh category in India. We have been well accepted and now we would like to have a leading position in the Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh price point," Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing Rakesh Srivastava told PTI.

The company plans to introduce two new vehicles this fiscal in the segment to achieve the target.

"Besides Creta, which is there, we plan to launch Tuscon and one another model this year to have a leading position in the Rs 10-20 lakh segment," Srivastava said.

When asked by when the company would be able to topple the current leaders like Toyota Kirloskar Motor, that sells popular models like Innova and Fortuner in the segment, Srivastava said: "During this financial year itself." For the financial year 2015-16, HMIL posted its highest ever sales of 4,84,324 units compared with 4,20,668 units in 2014-15, a rise of 15.1 per cent.

Its market share is also at an all-time high of over 17 per cent in the domestic passenger vehicle segment.

When asked about the sales outlook for the current fiscal, Srivastava said: "Indian auto industry is witnessing challenging times in terms of growth. I expect the industry to grow in the range of 5-7 per cent. We would like to sell 5 lakh units in the domestic market during the fiscal." The company would not be launching any "volume model" this year, he added.

"We would like to retain leadership position through sustained growth. Our performance during the year would be stronger than 2015-16," he added.

On sales network, Srivastava said the company was looking at a profitable growth for itself as well as its channel partners and is also laying a lot of effort in enhancing its reach in the rural areas.

The company has 445 dealerships and around 1,100 workshops across the country.

"We aim to close the current fiscal with 470 dealerships and 1,170 workshops. We don't want to go too fast as we want to grow profitably along with our channel partners," Srivastava said.

When asked about the capacity expansion at its Chennai
facility, Srivastava said the company produced a total of 6.45 lakh units during the last fiscal and can manufacture up to 7.2 lakh units in the plant with the current set up.

On the company's exports during the fiscal, he added the fall could be attributed to challenging conditions in various markets like China, CIS region, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The company today released a music video 'Drive mein Junoon', which features Arijit Singh, Clinton Cerejo and the Hyundai Elite i20, as part of brand building exercise. The video would be available on Hyundai's YouTune channel.

Since its launch in July 2014, the company has sold close to two lakh units of Elite i20 in India.