Hyundai Motor India Becomes the Global Export Hub for Hyundai Motor Company
- Shipment of 650 Santros Leaves for Colombia
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., March 18 -- Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) today announced its maiden export shipment to Colombia with a consignment of 650 units of its flagship 'Santro'.
Consistent with its stated intent to grow its Indian operations as a global export hub, the company has scaled up its export targets from 8,245 units in CY 2002 to over 25,000 units in CY 2003. The additional volume will primarily come from exports to destinations in Western Europe and South America. Algeria, Morocco, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia are currently some of the biggest export markets for Hyundai Motor India.
The Santro, also known in global markets as the 'Atos Prime' and the 'Amica' is currently being exported to Western Europe and South America from South Korea. Hyundai Motor India has recently completed a capacity expansion program to meet the increase in exports and has put in place modern testing facilities that conform to the advanced QA requirements in these countries.
Commenting on the exports, Mr. J.I. Kim, Managing Director, HMIL said, "This is a proud moment, not only for HMIL, but for the entire Indian automobile industry. We are also immensely proud of the fact that we have capabilities to export fully built cars to exacting global specifications and more importantly, have the same set of product specifications for both domestic and export models."
HMIL ended the year 2002 with sales of 111,051 units and leadership in all its three market segments in the Indian domestic market.
HMIL will also export the new Santro 15,000 units to Western European market from July this year.
About Hyundai Motor India Limited
Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is the second largest and the fastest growing car manufacturer in India. HMIL presently markets over 18 variants of passenger cars across three models, the Santro in the B segment, the Accent in the C segment and the Sonata in the E segment. The company recorded combined sales of 111,051 units during the calendar year 2002 and all three brands of Hyundai are leaders in their respective market segments.
HMIL has sold over 350,000 cars in a record time of 50 months since commencement of commercial production in October 1998.
HMIL has set up a fully integrated state-of-the-art manufacturing plant near Chennai that boasts of some of the most advanced production, quality and testing capabilities in the country. The company's production capacity has recently been increased to 150,000 cars a year in line with its stated intent to emerge as a global export hub.
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