Hyundai may rev up D-company with Elantra  ( March '17,2003, ET)

Enthused by the growing numbers in the premium segment in the country, Hyundai Motors may look for a piece of action by launching Elantra, its top seller in the American market.

The growth in the D segment (as it is also called), so far, is being largely driven by Skoda Octavia and Toyota Corolla. While there is no official word from the company, trade sources confirmed that clinics are being run in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi to elicit expert opinion on Hyundai Elantra.

Elantra competes with the likes of Toyota Corolla, Nissan Sentra and Honda Civic in the US. It is powered by a two-litre, four-cylinder DOHC engine generating 135 HP at 6000 rpm.

Hyundai offers one of the longest warranties in the industry for Elantra in the US market — 5 years / 60,000 miles for basic and 10 years / 1,00,000 for power train.

Trade sources say the Elantra is likely to be placed in the same price band as the Corolla. It will be available both in petrol and diesel variants. The car is likely to be assembled in the SKD or CKD format at Hyundai’s Chennai plant. It will have a fair degree of localisation in order to make the product price competitive.

The D segment is seen to be eating both into the top end mid-size C segment cars and the luxury E segment vehicles. The D segment also includes Opel Vectra, Contessa and Mercedes C class cars.

Incidentally, Hyundai Motor is said to have received positive response, initially, from the clinics for its supermini Getz. The car, launched in the European market last year, will be positioned as a B++ car to tap the customers looking for an option between the compact and mid-size cars.

The car is available in three engine options, — 1.1, 1.3 and 1.6 litre.

Both the Getz and Elantra may hit the Indian market early next year, since the Korean car maker is said to be concentrating on Santro exports this year.

Hyundai will source all its Santro requirements from India in the future. Recently, the company kicked off its maiden export shipment to Colombia with a consignment of 650 Santros.

The company has scaled up its export targets to over 25,000 units in calendar year ’03 from 8,245 units in CY ’02. The additional volumes will primarily come from exports to destinations in Western Europe and 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 America from South Korea.

Hyundai presently markets over 18 passenger car variants across three models, Santro, Accent and the Sonata. The company recorded combined sales of 1,11,051 units during calendar year '02.