Hyundai Motor India Rolls Out 9 Millionth Vehicle From Chennai Plant

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor completes 21 years in India this year and the brand achieved a new milestone recently rolling out its nine millionth vehicle from the Chennai-based facility. The company's nine millionth vehicle arrives amidst the slowdown in the auto sector, but a strong line-up of new launches, popular products and growing exports have helped the automaker sustain volumes despite registering a de-growth since the beginning of this year. Hyundai's nine millionth milestone also becomes the fastest by any carmaker in India. In contrast, Maruti Suzuki achieved the same production figure in 27 years back in 2010.

Speaking about the new achievement, Hyundai India said, “The milestone is a testimony to Hyundai's customer-centric approach and our commitment to providing the best mobility solutions."

Hyundai arrived in India in 1996 and commenced operations with the launch of the Santro in 1998. The automaker achieved its one millionth production milestone after seven years of commencing operations, while the next million followed suit in another two years. Since then, the brand has crossed the million production milestone in an average span of 18 months. The company announced in June last year the roll out of its eight millionth vehicle that was the Xcent special edition subcompact sedan. The nine millionth figure comes a little over a year later. Since 2010, Hyundai has been selling an average 4.5 lakh vehicles every year.

Hyundai's Chennai-based facility has an installed production capacity of 700,000 units per annum that caters to domestic and export demands. With its sister concern Kia Motors commencing operations in India this year, the parent company Hyundai Motor Group will be producing about one million cars in India. The additional 300,000 units will be produced at Kia's brand new facility in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.

Hyundai India operates out of 493 dealers and 1309 service points. The company currently holds a market share only second to that of Maruti Suzuki and starting this year, has reinvented itself as a mobility solutions company that retails conventional, hybrid and electric vehicles. While the Hyundai Venue, Grand i10 Nios and the Elantra facelift have been its conventional offerings, the company also introduced the Kona Electric in the country earlier this year, which is India's first electric SUV.