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In just ten years, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, (HMIL) a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, S Korea has metamorphed into the country’s fastest growing auto maker, having rolled-out some 7,00,000 units in just 75 months and is the largest exporter of passenger cars. HMIL is also the country’s second largest car manufacturer that markets over 34 variants in six segments: Santro in B segment, Getz and (i10) in B+, Accent and Verna in C; Elantra in D, Sonata in E and the Tucson in the SUV segment. Hyundai has achieved many significant milestones during this one decade. Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president, marketing and sales of the company explained the nuts and bolts of the automotive business to FE’s Radhika Sachdev.

What’s this year’s budget impact on auto sales?

There’s been a price correction which we have passed on to the customers, but the impact is slow. The price cut is approximately Rs 8000-13,000 on Santro and approximately 19,000 on Getz diesel model but the sales response is not immediate, perhaps because we started from a higher base of growth, yet, its reasonable. One reason for the slow impact could be that March is not the best month for auto financing. People have other things on mind.

About the budget, we are a little disappointed that the big car segment has been left untouched. Exports also didn’t benefit, which hits us hard as we export nearly 50% of our produce to overseas markets, namely EU, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. In today’s time, with the rupee strengthening, we were hoping to get some sops there, but we were disappointed.

From your long experience with the Indian auto market, first with Maruti and now with Hyundai, do you think we as customers have matured in any significant way?

There is certainly a heightened consumption trend. Cars have now acquired a lifestyle value. There is a faster transition from two to four wheels. There are no statistics available on the used car segment—its still a manufacturer-led business—has also grown, and the ownership pattern has significantly come down from five years for one model, four years ago; to the present three and a half years. Smaller cars still have a better retentive value, but that’s because they are financed less (65 to 70%) compared to 75 to 80% in big car segment.