Hyundai plans to build on the sales success of its cars in Europe with the launch of a completely new light commercial vehicle next year. The automaker has also revealed more details of the redesigned i20 line which makes its debut at the Paris show next month.
Rather than being built at Hyundai’s Turkish car plant, where capacity was doubled last year, the 3.5 ton H350 will be built by what a Hyundai insider described as “our long-serving commercial vehicle partner”, Karsan Otomotiv, which already builds the brand’s commercial vehicles for non-European markets.
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The H350 will sell alongside Hyundai’s only other commercial offering, the iLoad, also assembled in Turkey using the same platform as the i800 MPV.
The H350 will feature a single wheelbase with a choice of three bodystyles – cargo, bus and chassis cab.
Allan Rushforth, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor Europe, said: “This is an important development for us because it supports our growth into the corporate sector in Europe.”
The new van will be previewed at the Paris show later this month although its official launch will be at the Hannover Commercial Vehicle show later this year. It will go on sale through selected Hyundai dealerships from next year and right hand drive models will be available from 2016.
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By GlobalDataThe LCV was announced at the pre-Paris preview of Hyundai’s redesigned i20 [for which order books have already opened with spectacular success in India – ed] and is part of the manufacturer’s ‘product momentum’ which will see the introduction of 22 new or revised models through to 2017. This started less than a year ago with the launch of the new i10, followed by the Genesis and now the i20.
Rushforth said: “We are very committed to Europe.”
Hyundai has recently invested EUR500 in the Turkish region. Its car factory there will build the i20 [Europe supply is moving from India with the model change – ed].
“As far as the i20 is concerned, the B segment is extremely important to us and we have sold 1m cars in this sector of the market since we launched Getz in 2002,” Rushforth added.
“Our plan is to grow further and I expect to be selling 100,000 or more i20s annually – actually that number is a personal ambition for all our cars.”
The i20 will be rolled out across European markets by early next year and will be joined shortly afterwards by a 3-door coupe version aimed at a “more youthful” market.
