Bigger Market Than Europe

Hyundai i20, Hyundai Motor’s new strategic car for Indian market.
Hyundai i20, Hyundai Motor’s new strategic car for Indian market.

 

South Korea's top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. sold more automobiles in India than European countries combined last year for the first time. As India is expected to see an economic growth rate of 7 percent this year again, despite the global economic recession, industry watchers said the country will stand as the No. 3 market for Hyundai Motor, along with the United States and China.

According to the data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures (SIAM) and auto industry sources on January 24, Hyundai Motor sold 476,001 units of automobiles in India last year, marking a 15.7 percent growth on-year. The figure is up 5,871 units from the 470,130 units posted in the European market during the same period.

Hyundai Motor’s sales in 2015 also marked a record level by jumping as much as 10.9 percent on-year. However, the figure fell short of that of the rapidly growing Indian market. In 2006, Hyundai Motor sold only 186,174 units in the Indian market, a two third of the sales of 278,631 units in the European markets.

The company has been producing the Hyundai Santro, a strategic compact car model, in its plants in India from 1998 and it is now manufacturing and selling 10 car models in the market. Last year, Hyundai Motor ranked second with more than twice the sales of Indian automaker Mahindra Group, following Maruti Suzuki. The company’s share of the Indian market was 17.3 percent.

Hyundai Motor’s leap was largely due to the Grand i10 and the i20, which both reached a cumulative sales mark of 100,000 units in India last year. The Grand i10 was sold 124,072 units, while the i20 was sold 109,679 units. In addition, the Hyundai Creta, a compact SUV which was launched in India in the second half of last year, has held the top spot in sales for three months in a row from just after the release.

The Korea Automotive Research Institute, which is under the umbrella of the Hyundai Motor Group, forecasted that Indian economy will grow 7 percent this year and its car market will also grow 6.3 percent on-year to 2.92 million units.

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