Hyundai gets 60k export orders for 'i10'

Hyundai Motor India said on Tuesday it has received 60,000 export orders for its small car 'i10', which was launched in October 2007.

"HMIL started accepting export orders for the i10 from December, 2007, and received 60,000 orders from the overseas market creating a record of clocking the fastest 50,000 units of export orders in just three months," the company said.

The company would ship around 26,000 units by March 2008, and subsequently it would be exported to all the major markets across the globe covering over 90 countries by the end of the year, it added.

The small car 'i10', manufactured at the Chennai plant, made its debut in Europe at the Bologna Motor Show, Italy, in December last year and was also displayed at the Geneva Motor Show in January 2008.

Keeping its export market expansion plans, HMIL has also started a training programme to train staff of all its overseas distributors in Chennai factory premises.

The first batch of 31 sales managers from about 21 countries, like Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia, would undergo the training programme from March 11-14, it said.

"This familiarisation and understanding of the 'i10' and HMI as a company will help them to further establish the product in their respective markets. This is also a beginning of a trend, which by itself is a first for the industry where overseas partners are trained in India," the statement said.

HMIL presently markets 34 variants of passenger cars across various segments. It is setting up its second plant with an additional capacity of three lakh units, raising HMIL's total production capacity to six lakh units a year.

The company also plans to expand its domestic dealer network to 300 from 230 in the current year.