At a time, when auto majors are keeping away from exports, thanks to a strong rupee vis-?-vis dollar, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) is actually betting big on overseas markets.
The company has bagged export orders for 1,08,000 units of its recently launched i10 for the calendar year 2008 from 90 countries spread across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
?The first consignment of around 9,000 units will be exported to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in January and this will be gradually scaled up once Hyundai?s second plant starts operating in full capacity,? says Arvind Saxena, senior vice-president (sales and marketing), HMIL.
The i10, that made its world debut in India just two months back, will be solely produced at Hyundai?s Chennai plant. Besides catering to the domestic market, the car will be exported to Italy, France, Netherland, Germany, Greece, Algeria, Egypt, Colombia, Chile and Malaysia, to name a few.
In the wake of rising rupee and with no relief in sight, the company has converted over 50% of its exports into euro to keep its margins unaffected. However, the fact that the whole of it cannot be done in euro, HMIL is actually looking for some sops to keep up its export momentum.