DriveInside.com | Tuesday August 31, 2010
Hyundai Motor is planning to launch its SUV, Santa Fe, in India in October 2010. The Santa Fe is expected to be priced between Rs 22 lakh and Rs 24 lakh in India, and will be powered by a 2.2-litre diesel engine. It will initially be imported in India as a completely built unit (CBU) but may later be assembled locally, depending on sales volumes. Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday July 5, 2010
Most car companies in India posted a double-digit growth in their domestic sales in June 2010, with General Motors and Ford India growing by as much as 112 percent and 267 percent respectively. The two American companies owe their success largely to the popularity of their small cars Chevrolet Beat and Ford Figo. Tata Motors, too, saw a 63 percent Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday June 26, 2010
Hyundai India said last week that its exports to Europe would see a decline in financial year 2010-11 due to the economic crisis. The company currently exports 48 percent of the cars it produces at its two plants in Chennai. The remaining 52 percent are sold in the domestic market. Mr Arvind Saxena, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales, HMIL, Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday June 24, 2010
Hyundai India is planning to launch a small car powered by an 800cc engine, to compete with Maruti’s top selling model, the Alto. The car is likely to be launched in 2012, and will be priced at approximately Rs 2 lakh. The Alto comes at a starting price of a little over Rs 2 lakh, and is the highest selling car in India at present. Hyundai will Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday June 23, 2010
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has launched an upgraded version of its mid-sized sedan, the Hyundai Verna, priced between Rs 6.56 lakh and Rs 9.22 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The new ‘Verna Transform’ comes with both petrol and diesel variants, and sports a new look with ‘sharp eye’ headlamps and a new bumper design. The car’s interiors too Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday June 22, 2010
South Korean auto company, Kia Motors, is looking to expand its presence globally, with its largest market, Europe, shrinking as a result of the economic slowdown. The company may enter the Indian market with its small cars, Picanto and Proceed, and its popular sedans, Forte and Rio, after a feasibility study. Partly owned by the other big Korean Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday June 21, 2010
Auto companies in India have significantly increased their spending on digital marketing over the past year. According to industry observers, Maruti Suzuki, Honda Siel, Hyundai India and General Motors India are now investing at least 10 percent of their total advertising budgets online. These companies are targeting customers aged between 25 and Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday June 17, 2010
Korean auto-part company, Hyundai Wia, may soon set up a car-component manufacturing plant in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. The company is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor, and produces car parts, airplane components and satellite imagery products. According to media reports, Hyundai Wia has already approached the government of AP to set up a production Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday June 9, 2010
Workers at Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) called off a three-day strike in Sriperumbudur, after reaching an agreement with the company management, following the state government’s intervention. The two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as per which the company has agreed to reinstate 35 employees on a case-by-case basis. Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday June 7, 2010
The Indian auto industry continued to grow at a rapid pace in May 2010, in spite of repeated price hikes following the announcement of Budget 2010. Maruti Suzuki did particularly well, posting its highest ever domestic sales in the month at 90,041 units – 27 percent higher than its sales in May 2009. The company’s total sales in May 2010 stood at Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday May 2, 2010
After the end of a successful financial year in March 2010, passenger car companies in India continued on their upward trajectory in April 2010. Maruti Suzuki’s total domestic sales stood at 80,034 units in April 2010, up from 64,857 units in April 2009 – an increase of 23.4 percent. While the company’s passenger car sales grew substantially, its Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday April 22, 2010
Tata Motors may soon overtake its closest rival in the passenger car market, Hyundai, with its manufacturing plant in Sanand scheduled to start operations on April 30, 2010. At present, Hyundai is the second largest passenger car company in India after Maruti, while Tata Motors comes third. After the Sanand plant becomes operational, Tata’s yearly Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday April 19, 2010
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) will be launching its SUV, Santa Fe, as a Completely Built Unit (CBU) by the end of 2010. The vehicle was first launched in the global market in 2001. HMIL Managing Director, Mr HW Park, told mediapersons that while the Santa Fe would be introduced in India as a CBU, the company was likely to start producing it Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday April 7, 2010
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) last week launched a new, more fuel-efficient version of its premium compact car, the i20, along with two new variants - Era and Sportz. The new variants have been introduced keeping in mind the different requirements of i20 customers, and will be available with both petrol and diesel engine options. HMIL MD and Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday April 4, 2010
Passenger car sales in India continued their upward surge in March 2010, with Hyundai Motor posting its highest ever domestic sales at 31,501 units, up from 24,754 units in March 2009. Maruti Suzuki sold 79,530 units in the domestic market in March 2010, up 7.7 percent from the 73,855 units it sold in March 2009. However, the company suffered a Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday March 24, 2010
Hyundai Motor is developing a new 800cc car to be launched in the second half of 2011. With an expected price of approximately Rs 2 lakh, it will be among the least expensive cars in the country along with the Tata Nano, the Maruti Alto and the Maruti 800, which will soon be discontinued.The Santro, which at Rs 2.7 lakh is Hyundai’s cheapest Read More...
DriveInside.com | Monday March 8, 2010
All vehicle segments in India continued to grow in February 2010 on the back of new launches and the expected price-hike in the coming months. Almost all passenger car companies announced an increase in their vehicle prices after the excise-duty was hiked last week. There will be a further increase in prices in April, following the implementation Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday March 7, 2010
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) organised a 77-kilometre car rally – the ‘Miles and Smiles Rally 2010’ – in Ahmedabad last week. As many as 80 Hyundai i10 owners participated in the rally, which was sponsored by the Indian Oil Corporation Limited and Wynn’s Mekuba (as associate sponsor). The ‘Miles and Smiles Rally’ is an initiative by Hyundai Read More...
DriveInside.com | Saturday February 27, 2010
A number of auto companies in the country have hiked car prices following the announcement of Budget 2010-11 last week, which increased the excise duty on all non-oil products from 8 percent to 10 percent. The excise duty on bigger cars, which stood at 20 percent earlier, has also gone up to 22 percent. The companies that have announced definitive Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday February 25, 2010
South Korean auto company, Hyundai, announced the recall of 47,000 units of the Sonata this week, to correct a fault in the car’s front-door latch. The automaker had earlier said that it would halt the sale of the Sonata in the US. Hyundai’s quick response to the problem is in sharp contrast to Toyota’s rather slow waking up to the serious defects Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday February 23, 2010
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) recently crossed the 1-million mark in car exports, becoming the first company in the country to reach the important milestone. The company first entered the export market in 1999, when it exported a batch of Santros to Nepal. It has come a long way since then, and is now exporting to 110 countries worldwide. The Read More...
DriveInside.com | Tuesday February 2, 2010
Auto makers in the country continued to record high car sales in January 2010, on the back of several new model and variant launches and the impending hike in car prices later in the year. Market leader Maruti Suzuki posted a 21 percent sales growth in the month by selling 81,087 units in the domestic market, while Hyundai Motor grew by 40 Read More...
DriveInside.com | Sunday January 24, 2010
The President of the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Lee Myung-Bak, and First Lady Kim Yoon-ok, visited Hyundai Motor India’s manufacturing facility in Chennai this week. The Korean President was in India for the country’s Republic Day celebrations, where he had been invited as Chief Guest. Interestingly, H.E. Lee Myung-bak has a background in Read More...
DriveInside.com | Thursday January 21, 2010
Close on the heels of price hikes by competitors Maruki Suzuki and Tata Motors, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) too has announced a 1-1.5 percent increase in model prices starting from February 1, 2010. The company said that it would hike prices by up to Rs 9,000, but did not give details of the quantum of increase for each of its models. It Read More...
DriveInside.com | Wednesday January 6, 2010
Hyundai India unveiled the electric version of its compact car, the i10, at the 2010 Auto Expo in Delhi this week. The zero-emission car was first showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2009. It is powered by a 49 kWh electric motor and a 16kWh battery. The car uses advanced Lithium-Ion-Polymer (LiPoly) technology which gives it a Read More...