HYDERABAD: Hyderabad and Chennai have been shortlisted by Hyundai for setting up its research and development unit in the country.

The automobile major will shortly take a final decision in this regard, company south India senior general manager (sales and marketing) Y.J. Ahn told reporters here on Wednesday, after inaugurating a new Hyundai showroom at ECIL cross roads.

"Both the cities have equal chances. We already have a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chennai. Hyderabad is also growing because of its strong IT background. A decision will be taken soon," he said.

Hyundai has R&D centres in the U.S., Japan and Germany.

He said a new diesel version of Hyundai Sonata would be soon launched in the country.

"Andhra Pradesh's total contribution to southern region sales is 25 per cent. In fact, in Hyderabad we sell 12,000 cars per year." he said.

In 2005, Hyundai sold 2,52,851 cars.

The company also exports 50,000 cars every year.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail