Hyundai Motor is planning to enter the light commercial vehicle (LCV) market in India and is in talks with a local firm, according to a report in The Hindu.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The company, which has a line-up of LCVs in Korea ranging between 2.5 tonnes and 7 tonnes, has been studying the feasibility for entering the segment, specially the below one tonne domain dominated by Tata Motors’ Ace model.
“Officials from our parent company did have talks with an Indian firm. We are working for some corporation with a local company for development of commercial vehicles,” Hyundai Motor India Managing Director and CEO HS Lheem said.
He, however, declined to name the Indian company with which Hyundai was holding talks.
In the past, Hyundai had been linked with Eicher Motors but both the companies have vehemently denied the reports.
Lheem said the company saw a lot of potential in the sub-one tonne segment, which has become synonymous with last mile transportation in the commercial vehicles segment, but competing with Tata Motors would be a tough task.
“We did a detailed study for the one tonne segment…but can’t compete with ‘Ace’. If we have to compete, then we have to build the product here in India,” he said.
Following Tata’s footsteps, other companies like Bajaj Auto and Mahindra & Mahindra are also developing their respective products in the segment, while three-wheeler major Piaggio has already introduced “Ape Truk” to take on “Ace”. Ashok Leyland has announced a tie-up with Nissan for developing and manufacturing LCVs in India, the newspaper said.
