NEWZ_AUTOMOBILES!

HYUNDAI PHASES OUT 'ACCENT'

Hyundai Motors has stopped the sale of Accent sedan in the
Indian market, but plans to replace it with an entry-level
sedan, apart from launching a new hatchback later this year.
Hyundai Motor India Vice-President for Marketing and Sales
Rakesh Srivastava told Business Line that Accent had been
phased out of the Indian market because the auto major wanted to launch a newer, advanced entry-level sedan, which is one of
the fastest-growing segments in the country.
Till the production of Accent for the domestic sector was
stopped, it had posted a cumulative sale of 3.8 lakh cars. It
was one of the first models to offer the CRDi diesel engine in
the mid-sized segment. Accent
will, however, continue to be produced for the export market. Hyundai is currently the largest exporter of passenger cars from
India.
The South Korean car maker also plans to have a clear product
differentiation in each of the segments it is in India. This year,
it will launch a new model code-named BA, a premium hatchback positioned between i10 and i20
to cater to a wider base of customers. Hyundai has also
refurbished the i10 and i20 models, apart from repositioning
Eon as a more modern car in its segment.
Srivastava said globally, Hyundai
is consolidating the production capacities as more and more
plants are being opened in different countries. Therefore,
there will be some shift in production patterns across
countries as the aim is to service the domestic demand of the region where the plants are located as well as produce
products for the neighbouring markets to ensure quicker
response time to market,Hyundai’s head for marketing
and sales said.
He pointed out that exports gives
the company strong quality benchmarks, creates higher
acceptance of products worldwide and ensures full
utilisation of its production capacity.
Increase capacity
The car manufacturer currently produces 6.3 lakh units every
year and with some minor changes in the production schedule, the capacity can be
increased to another 40,000 car units. Last year (calendar year),
Hyundai sold 391,276 cars in the domestic market and exported
250,005 cars.