Hyundai Motor followed start-up quality glitches with success for its India-specific cars, according to the Korea Times.
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“It was not easy to crank out cars suitable for Indian life styles but our seamless efforts started making [a] difference,” Hyundai Motor India managing director Lheem Heung-soo told the paper for a special feature on the firm’s operations in this important emerging market.
“We changed a car from A to Z to adapt it to both Indian drivers and the weather. It was painful but eventually paid off,” Lheem said.
HMI moved the Atos/z hatchback compact car, which was not a success in Korea, to India, changed its name to Santro and produced it there from 1998.
The model initially suffered from severe start-up glitches but it eventually proved successful as customers became confident with its quality fitted to Indian needs, the paper said.
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By GlobalDataIt has now reached the stage where India is the ‘export hub’ for the model. Imports to the UK re-commenced recently with the updated model from India replacing the axed-for-a-few-years Korean-built version.
“We enhanced the road clearance of the Santro because of rough Indian road[s]. Plus, the headroom was expanded to cater to the needs of Indians who [wear] hefty turbans,” Lheem told the Korea Times.
He said the car’s acceleration was improved and the horn strengthened.
Other local updates are a powerful air conditioner to deal with India’s steamy summer heat and water-resistant engine control units to guard against seasonal torrential rain.
The quality of the Santro is still recognised as the best among all compact cars available in India, the paper said, citing the July edition of the Indian magazine Autocar.
The monthly picked the Santro as its choice after giving it eight stars on a 10-star scale in a comparison of five compact cars – the Fiat Palio, Maruti’s Suzuki-designed Alto and Wagon R and the Tata Indica Xeta.
Sales began rising in 1999, a year after the Santro’s debut, and it became the top seller in the compact car segment in 2000 and has maintained the top slot in the following years ever since, the report said.
Consequently, HMI has chalked up growth, such as last year’s 17.26% to combined sales of 252,851 cars, and is runner-up, with an 18.2% market share, only to long-established perennial leader Maruti, controlled by Suzuki.
HMI now makes one in five new cars sold in India and last year’s roughly 100,000 units accounted for about 60% of India’s overall automobile exports.
This year, HMI plans to sell 200,000 of its 300,000 locally-made units in India and export the rest.
The Korea Times noted that Hyundai demand has started outstripping supply, hence a second production line, taking capacity to 300,000 units a year, due for completion late next year.
“On top of the Santro, we plan to introduce a pair of new models every year here to continue the growth momentum,” Lheem told the paper.
“Many factors are responsible for our success in India and one of them is that we catered to the needs of the Indian customers.”
HMI has over 4,000 employees and pays its workers about $US6,000 a year, the Korea Times noted.
