Hyundai India mulls local assembly of Hyundai Santa Fe soon

Latest developments in Indian Auto Industry state that the Global car manufacturing companies are planning to increase the prices of their cars due to recent modifications in the norms of CKD parts. Recently Finance Ministry imposed fresh custom duty on Completely Knock Down auto part which created quite a controversy and forced automakers to establish their manufacturing facility in India to avoid excess custom duty.

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According to sources, Hyundai Motor, the Korean carmaker company is considering the installation of assembly unit for its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Hyundai Santa Fe in India. The company is also expected to start taking new bookings for the SUV by June 2011. As per sources, Hyundai Santa Fe is currently in process of acquiring regulatory standards certification from Government agency, Automotive Research Association of India, Pune. Moreover, as the Hyundai India is planning to assemble the SUV in the country from completely knocked down (CKD) kits, some of the body parts are undergoing structural stress tests at the agency’s labs. It should be noted that normally the testing phase is conducted before the starting of local assembly.

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Director, Marketing and Sales, Hyundai Motor India, Arvind Saxena said that company is planning to commence the CKD operations for Hyundai Santa Fe. He also quoted that currently Hyundai India is selling 100 units per month and for making the operations of factory economical, company will wait for sales figure to touch the mark of 150 units per month. According to the reports, local assembly will assist Hyundai India in drawing more competitive price of their Hyundai Santa Fe against rivals like the Toyota Fortuner (Rs 20.1 lakh in Delhi) and the Ford Endeavour (Rs 17-20 lakh). At present, the Hyundai Santa Fe is tagged with an expensive price of Rs 21-23 lakh, which is mainly due to high custom duties of 60 percent imposed on Completely Built Units.

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However, with the latest release of Hyundai Verna Fluidic in India, Hyundai Motors has already started acquiring big share in Indian auto market. Also, company is structuring its first diesel engine plant in India with an aim of growing 10-12 percent more this year. Hyundai India is hoping to sell four lakh Hyundai Cars in India and exporting another 2.25 lakh Hyundai cars.

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