India's largest car exporter Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) on Tuesday launched the Grand i10 priced aggressively between Rs 4.37-6.53 lakh (ex-showroom Bangalore).
The company said that the car is positioned in a segment that lies between their earlier i10 and i20 cars and would be called a high end hatchback targeted at young professionals aged between 25-35 years. Hyundai said that to suit the requirements of the Indian customers there are some India-specific developments carried out on the car which include being longer and having a larger wheelbase compared to its European version.
“The Grand is a world-class product developed for the Indian market. We expect Grand with its excellent value proposition and its unique features, will serve wide range of customers in India,” HMIL Managing Director and CEO B S Seo said. The car has been designed at Hyundai European design centre in Germany using design cues of the 'fluidic design' theme.
The Grand will be available with two engine options, the 1.1 litre advanced 2nd generation U2 CRDi engine and 1.2 litre Kappa Dual VTVT petrol offering a combination of optimum performance and fuel economy.
HMIL Director, Finance and Corporate Affairs R Sethuraman said that the company has seen an upward buying trend in compact high-end cars in the last two years. In 2011, the share of compact high-end cars in the total number of compact cars sold in India was 29 per cent; it was 33 per cent in 2012 and in 2013 (year till date), the number stood at 34 per cent.
“In the last 10 months, the auto industry has faced a degrowth and its 14 per cent when it comes to the passenger car industry. As far as Hyundai is concerned, we have had a degrowth of 4.8 per cent,” Sethuraman said, adding that since almost 40 per cent of their production constitutes for exports, the slowdown is helping them explore these markets.