Figo seems to have caught the 'i'

We think the immense success of the Ford Figo seems to have dented Hyundai i10’s sales a bit. Hyundai is working on the diesel i10 to counter the hot selling Figo. In a surprise of sorts, Hyundai Motor India’s President HW Park has candidly revealed that it is indeed the Figo and not the Nissan Micra that has put the company on its toes. He said the above statement to Indian Journalists at Korea. He was categorical that Hyundai was not duly concerned about the Nissan Micra. More on this later. However, the firm is directing efforts to fight the newly launched upgraded WagonR and the Figo. He strongly hinted that Hyundai may launch the diesel variant of i10, though he did not specify the time-line. We can recall that Hyundai halted all plans to launch its i10 diesel in India as it was proving to be very expensive. The strong sales of the Figo have made them rethink their decision.

Hyundai currently sells two versions of its i10 with the 1.1L iRDE and 1.2L Kappa engine. The latter is India’s most fuel efficient car behind the Nano with an ARAI figure of 19.8km/l. The Hyundai i20 diesel is more expensive and competes with higher-end hatchbacks like the Polo which leaves a space in Hyundai’s lineup for a smaller diesel car. Hyundai have also revealed that they will launch a new model every year. The Santa Fe will make its debut by the fourth quarter of this year as a CBU while the all new Sonata YF, face lifted i20 and i10 will follow ‘very soon’.

“We will launch one new model every year, one face-lifted version and a model year model,” he said, when asked about Hyundai’s plans. When he was quizzed on the Santro, he replied saying that the model is selling 8,000 units per month and that there were no plans to phase it out yet. “Demand for Santro still exists,” he reiterated. The expansion of the existing line of Hyundai is scheduled to be during early part of 2011-2012. Hyundai’s plans for launching a 2.5 lakh car ($ 5,000) are on track. “Development of the sub-Santro model is at evaluation stage at Namyang (its R&D centre). We are on schedule as far as the development stage work is concerned. Look-wise, it will not be small though it will have a similar cutting-edge design,” he said.

Hyundai are also expanding in rural areas where sales have witnessed a steady climb. “It is 31% now and steadily seeing a growth of 5%. We are expanding in rural pockets using the hub-and-spoke model. Maruti is very strong. We will follow the same strategy.” Asked about Hyundai’s performance this year, Mr Park said it will either be on par or exceed the industry growth of 10-12%. On exports, he said it will be similar to last year at 50:50 domestic-export sales ratio. “Our priority will be domestic market as we want to take the mix to 57:43 this year. Capacity is limited and within that, exports will happen. If the figures touch 70 to 80% then we may look at expansion,” the MD said.

Now coming to the Nissan Micra, we feel Hyundai has seriously underestimated Nissan’s capabilities. Although dull, the i10 isnt what one would call a looker either. Moreover, the Micra is around 100mm longer than the i10 putting it in a class above. It will also be available with the brilliant K9K diesel that is found on the Logan sedan. Hyundai does have a valid point though – Nissan’s dealership network and after-sales are nowhere near that of Hyundais but given sometime, we feel the Micra is good enough to give the i10 a strong fight. Did we forget? No matter how many times we have mentioned this, the Micra’s pricing does hold key here. Let’s wait for its launch which is just a month or so away.

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