Report - Hyundai India to establish presence in compact SUV and MPV segments

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) is gearing up to debut the 2015 Hyundai Elite i20 on August 11. India's second largest passenger car maker has announced that it will pursue new product and customer segments to enhance its market share.

Speaking to PTI, Mr. Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HMIL, said that the company will tap into the rural market and corporate sales segment to increase its domestic sales volume.

In addition to exploring new customer segments, the Korean automaker is also poised to explore new product segments. Mr. Srivastava announced that starting from this year, Hyundai decided to launch one new product each year in the segment which is new to the brand. This year's new product was the Xcent which started off strongly in the compact sedan space.

Hyundai has identified the compact SUV and MPV segments as segments that it needs presence in. Come 2015, the Hyundai ix25 compact crossover could be HMIL's SUV candidate to compete with the likes of the Ford EcoSport, Renault Duster, Maruti SX4 S-Cross and Nissan Terrano.

The MPV, not much of which is known as of now, is expected to be ready sometime in 2016. The Hyundai Hexa Space Concept that was unveiled at the 2012 Auto Expo could serve as a precursor. The people mover will pick up a fight with the Maruti Ertiga, Honda Mobilio and Toyota Innova.

HMIL has garnered a market share of 21.6% in the first seven months of this year, having sold 2,35,432 units in the domestic market. With presence in fast growing product and customer segments, the company is planning to further extend its market share.

Hyundai ix25 Competitors: Ford EcoSport, Renault Duster, Nissan Juke

Hyundai ix25 Expected Price: INR 8 - 10 lakhs, ex-Showroom

Hyundai ix25 Concept - Image Gallery

[Source - Economic Times]