Saar: It will be one amongst the eight new products that Hyundai plans to launch in India by 2020.
Hyundai Motor India has revealed that it plans to launch a total of eight new products by 2020. Out of the lot, two will land a punch in new segments, five will be complete model-changes and the remainder will be an electric SUV, which should launch by the end of 2019. This was confirmed by the Y K Koo, who is the managing director at Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
Koo also confirmed that the electric SUV will initially be imported as a completely knocked down unit. If the market responds well, Hyundai Motor India will go the distance to even produce the said SUV at its Chennai plant, he added. While he didn’t mention the name of the product, we reckon that it could very well be the Kona Electric SUV, which is shorter in length than the Creta. The company will begin sales of the electric SUV with 15 cities in India. Koo said that the company’s focus is on EVs (electric vehicles) but it needs support from the government to make them pocket-friendly and fit into everyone’s lives without many hassles (relating to infrastructure).
Earlier it was being speculated that Hyundai might land the Ioniq sedan in India, either in its full-electric form or with a hybrid powertrain. But that plan was shelved as India is one of the many nations who prefer an SUV over a sedan in the same price segment. As far as hybrid cars are concerned, they are not on the priority list for Hyundai Motor India. Reason? The GST (Goods and Service Tax) structure renders them as luxury products. Result? They fall in the 28 per cent tax bracket and attract an additional cess of 15 per cent.
In June this year, a report came out saying that the government will stop providing incentives to electric vehicles bought for personal use. This will be part of the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and hybrid vehicles) scheme. Koo said this development will inevitably hamper the industry’s efforts to bring electric mobility solutions for everyone. Additionally, Koo said that the government should consider reducing the GST on EVs to 5 per cent from the current 12 to help make them relatively affordable.
To ensure that rising demand in India is met without any hassles and that the new models in the pipeline have enough production space, Koo said that from January 2019, Hyundai will increase the production capacity by 50,000 units per annum. That will take the total manufacturing capacity up to 7.5 lakh units per year. This increased production will also help the company to achieve its target of producing 1 crore units by the first quarter of 2021.
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Koo did not mention any model names that are in the pipeline but we can surely speculate what those will be. Amongst the models which will bring Hyundai into new car segments will be a sub-4 metre SUV, which will be shared with its subsidiary Kia Motors. Complete models changes could include the Eon hatchback and the Grand i10 siblings. The Hyundai Elantra facelift is also part of the kitty, which has been spotted testing on a few occasions already. Similarly, the refreshed Tucson SUV is also expected to come to India soon.
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