Hyundai Motor India has achieved another significant milestone with the shipment of its 400,000th Atos Prime to its overseas markets. The Atos Prime, better known as Santro in India, was loaded for shipment at the Chennai port on Monday.

Hyundai achieved this distinction in less than eight years after it started exporting from India in December 1999. In October 2006, Hyundai exported its 300,000th car and exporting the next one lakh car in less than a year makes Hyundai’s 400,000th overseas sale the fastest export shipment in the industry.

The total exports for the month of July 2007 alone stands at 13,200 units, which is a 57 per cent year-on-year increase from the 8,406 units exported in July 2006. Hyundai is also foraying into new markets to reach increasingly more global customers.

Currently, Hyundai Motor India is exporting Santro, Getz and the Accent model to around 67 countries across Europe, Africa, Latin America and Middle East, said a company release. For its export achievement, Hyundai Motor India was awarded the Top exporter award in the large category of enterprise for 2005-06 by the Engineering Export Promotional council (EEPC) of India.

Capacity expansion
The huge demand for Hyundai products in the domestic and overseas markets makes it imperative for it to expand capacity. The second plant, which is under construction, would double Hyundai’s capacity to 600,000 units per annum by the time it commences production in early 2008. HMIL expects to export about half the production of 600,000 units.