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Hyundai plans small car by 2011

NEW DELHI: Joining the ‘small car’ bandwagon, Korean auto-manufacturer Hyundai Motor on Friday said it was planning to launch $3,500 car in India by 2011. India’s second largest carmaker would also be introducing a new variant of its newly launched hatchback ‘i10’ in the next couple of months.

“Though we have no immediate plans to take on Tata’s Nano, we are planning a new small car keeping in mind consumers’ demand in India as well as China. Pricing is crucial for us as we want to deliver an affordable product to our customers. The project is now in the development stage at our research and development centre in Korea,” Hyundai Motor India Managing Director and CEO H. S. Lheem said on the sidelines of a function here. Hyundai plans to manufacturer and export the new small car from its Chennai plant.

Apart from Tata, which is planning to start production of the world’s cheapest car (Rs.1 lakh) ‘Nano’ by this year-end, Bajaj Auto in collaboration with Renault-Nissan has announced to roll out its ‘small car’ by 2011. Hyundai’s cheapest model available in India is ‘Santro’ that starts from above Rs. 2.60-lakh. Mr. Lheem said Hyundai is also planning to double its exports this year against one-lakh units achieved in 2007. He also said rising fuel prices would not have much impact on its sales figures.

Hyundai Motor will also be introducing a new model of its hatchback ‘i10’ that saw its global launch in India a few months ago. The new variant, equipped with a 1.2 litre all aluminium engine giving 15 bhp additional power, will hit the market with the next two months. The current ‘i10’ model comes in a 1.1 litre engine. Hyundai is also planning to launch the LPG variant of its most successful model ‘Santro’ by August this year and CNG variant of sedan ‘Accent’ in the next few months.

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