Hyundai has Decided! To Steamroll Ahead With a New Diesel-Engine Plant in India

I have a habit of going through the Sports and Business section of the newspaper before peering at what else the scribes have on offer. As I have been flipping the pages of my TOI my mouth is letting out a gasp.

The Rupee is plummeting. Drastically! It might have a nice currency symbol, but the brand has shed its sheen. In the process, it has sent ripples over to motoring enthusiasts as well. Imported vehicles risk breaking your bank. More importantly, the cocktail of Carbon-and-Hydrogen that powers them is set to skyrocket in terms of prices.

Next-Gen-i10-Brilliant (2)
This is the next-gen i10 testing in India which will also get the 1.1L CRDI diesel engine

That having said, diesel-engine versions of automobiles still remain an attractive option. Take the case of Hyundai. Last fiscal, it handed over keys of plush, new four-wheelers to about 3.91 lakh customers. Out of that vast ocean, one-fourth (Around 1 Lakh Customers) chose to go for diesel-mill powered versions. However, what hits them hard is the fact that the diesel engines are imported and thus entail higher costs.

To overcome this hurdle and also to enable them to roll out more diesel-based models, Hyundai has a new flexible engine plant up its sleeve. This engine plant will have a capacity of about 3,00,000 units per annum, thereby enabling Hyundai to push up sales charts of its workhorses like i20, Verna and Elantra. This will also help the Korean major to produce the 1.1L CRDI engine that is expected to debut on the upcoming next-gen i10.

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This move will also help Verna and Elantra

Hyundai already has two gasoline engine plants with a combined capacity of over 6.5 lakh units per annum. With this new plant, Hyundai has a good springboard to leap higher. The flexible engine plant is expected to lower costs by doing away with import duties as well as logistical costs. Delivery Schedule failures will be less crippling, and in the long-term the plant will help boost localization of products.

The new plant seems to have its task cut-out, as described by Financial Express. Hyundai has earmarked 6.7 lakh unit sales for this fiscal. There are a couple of launches in the offing, one is a car placed between the i10 and i20 models and the other is a utility vehicle.

Hyundai has stated that the new car will be launched in both Diesel and Petrol engine variants, enabling it too reach out to a wider customer base. Interestingly, Hyundai also looks to export engines from this plant to nations such as Turkey and Malaysia.

Know All About the Upcoming Next-Gen i10

-Bishakh

 

Source: Financial Express

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