Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), the country’s largest exporter of cars and the second largest manufacturer in India, is targeting 21% market share in the calender year 2010, a shade over the 2009 market share of 20.6%.

The company said its export sales is expected to overtake the domestic one and is likely to touch 55% of the overall sales in 2010 against 50% in the previous year.

The company on Monday announced that it had become the first player in India to achieve the one millionth-mark in exports, a significant milestone after its decade of presence in India since it first exported Santro in 1999 to Nepal.

After adding Australia under its export network on Monday, with the first export batch of 500 units of i20, the company will add 10 more countries under its export belt taking the total number of countries to 120 by year-end, said HMIL MD HW Park.

HMIL director (sales & marketing) Arvind Saxena said, “We expect to end the calender year 2010 with a marginal growth in our overall sales to 5.9 lakh units, thereby increasing our market share marginally to 21% as against 20.6% in 2009. Buoyed by an impressive 11% growth in exports in 2009, the company expects that the exports sales will overtake domestic sales and will garner 55% of the overall sales in 2010 as against 50% in 2009.” This is possible as the company decides to reach 10 more countries in 2010, he said further.

“As of now the i20 cars are being manufactured from Chennai plant and going forward we may move part of i20 production to Turkey to meet the growing demand for this car in Europe and other countries. We foresee that the export demand for i20 in 2010 will shoot up to 40,000 units and then to 80,000 units in 2011 and we cannot meet the increasing demand just from India alone,” he further said. In 2010, the company plans to export 15,000 i20s to Australia alone, he added.

Saxena said, “i10 will continue to dominate the export front. Of the total exports i10 will hold 50% and the rest will be shared by other cars.”

Meanwhile, Chennai Port Trust chairman Subhash Kumar said the port will create more parking facilities by demolishing the older buildings within the port site for Hyundai to increase its exports over the years. The port will also ensure that the pollution level within its premises will be brought down substantially to help Hyundai export in a cleaner manner.