Hyundai has not yet taken a decision on its new greenfield project as it is unsure about global market conditions. Despite 7-10 launches over the next three years, it believes it can manage domestic as well as export demand with a focus on domestic market to retain and increase its share.
?If required the company may partially meet its export obligations through other plants across the globe,? said HW Park, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India (HMIL).
?It is too early to talk about the new greenfield project as we have enough capacity to meet both domestic and export markets. We have still not taken a call on the project and I do not see it in the near future as we are unsure of global market conditions, including Europe, which is considered to be our largest export base accounting for over 40% of our total exports.?
?We are still to meet our total production capacity of 670,000 units which we may reach in a year or two,? he added. The company expects to end this year with 630,000 units and still have room for more sales next year.
According to him, even if Europe recovers earlier than expected, the company will continue to focus on domestic market to maintain growth momentum while sustaining their market share. ?At present, exports contribute around 45% to our total sales and it may come down as we continue to focus more on domestic market. It may drop to 25% in the next two to three years,? R Sethuraman, senior vice-president (finance), said.
According to him, capacity may be expanded to 670,000 units with a little debottlenecking and investment within next year. As volume grows, the percentage of exports will come down and domestic market share will go up, he said.
?We have no plans to phase out Santro. While Eon has its own customers, Santro finds niche customers too,? he added.
