Hyundai India all set to roll out low-cost car

Taking on the Tata's Nano, Hyundai India is on its way to develop a low-cost car with considerable support from its research capacity in Hyderabad. This new low-cost car is expected to be cheaper than Hyundai's Santro..

HYUNDAI MOTOR India Limited is ready to launch low-cost car in the country. The car manufacturer is on the way of developing its low-cost car with considerable support from its research capacity in Hyderabad for design and technical analysis.

The low-cost car will be cheaper than Santro and will carry a price tag between Rs 1,80,000 to Rs 2,25,000. This car is said to give a fair competition to Tata’s Nano and other global companies like Fiat, Toyota, Renault-Bajaj, General Motors and Volkswagen.

According to Hyundai Motor India managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), HS Lheem, "We are serious about the micro-car market and from April this year, we have undertaken a massive feasibility study to understand the Indian customers’ mind, driving conditions, styling cues and technical specs—for the proposed small car."

He also said that Hyundai is also planning a petrol car that will be a notch above the Nano segment. It will be price-competitive and would exclusively target the Indian market, but maybe followed by a global launch later. By the time this car is launched in India, the demand for small cars will double to about two million units per year.

HS Lheem said that all R&D on the small car will be done in India, which will also be the sole manufacturing hub. "We have already started the initial designing of the micro car on computer, which is directly linked to our super computers in Ulsan."

source:merinews