Hyundai's Compact SUV Launching Next Year - Official

With an eye on increasing market share in India, Korean auto major Hyundai is gearing up to enter the compact SUV and multi-purpose vehicle segments from next year.

Buoyed by strong response to its newly launched hatchback Elite i20 and success of compact sedan Xcent, the company's Indian arm Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) is also looking forward to a strong festive season sales.

"From this year we have started entering segment where we are not present. We will continue to do this in the coming years to enter segments where we are not present currently," HMIL Vice President Sales and Marketing Rakesh Srivastava told PTI here.

Earlier this year, the company had entered the compact sedan segment with Xcent and has so far sold 30,000 units.

When asked about the segment that HMIL would enter next, he said: "The compact SUV and MPV segments are growing in India and these are of interest to us."

Srivastava, however, declined to share which segment the company would first enter between the two.

Company sources said the compact SUV is a priority and could be launched next year.

Elaborating on the company's strategy, Srivastava said: "With the new products, along with refreshes of existing models and enhancement of our channels, we should be able to increase our market share by one percentage point each year in the next few years."

In the January-July period of 2014, the company sold 2,35,432 cars in India, translating into a market share of 21.6 per cent. During the same period last year, the company's market share was at 20.4 per cent.

On the festive season expectations, he said: "The last couple of years have been challenging for the industry. We have been bringing new products and this year we are well poised to maximise opportunities in the season."

In the last two years, he said, HMIL has successfully launched Elantra, Grandi10, Santa FE and Xcent models.

"The Elite i20 will be our fifth successful launch and the response we have had from the customers since launch on August 11 has been phenomenal."