`Made in India' Santro to hit European markets

The `Made in India' hatchback car Santro was unveiled at the international motor show in Frankfurt as part of the plans by the South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company to make its Indian subsidiary a manufacturing hub for small cars.

Rechristened as Atos Prime, the 1.1-litre car would be launched initially in 12 markets of Western Europe including Italy, Germany, France, Greece, Spain, Netherlands and Sweden, Werner H Frey, vice president, Hyundai Motor, Europe, told PTI.

"We plan to sell 15,000 units of Atos Prime this year and 35,000 units the year after. We are confident that the built-in-India car is of good quality, and we will be able to corner a sizeable marketshare in the European market," Frey said.

He said the car would be available in three variants. The base version Active, the mid-end Comfort and the top-end Style. Atos Prime will carry a base price tag between euro 7,500 and euro 7,900.

He was confident that the vehicle would find easy acceptability in the growing European market provided it met the quality standard of its South Korean parent. "Customers are not affected if the quality standards are maintained. Place of manufacture is not an issue," he observed.

"The local laws are also favourable if we import the car from India. We have to pay only 6.5 per cent duty on cars being imported from India. The import duty is higher at 10 per cent if we import it from Korea. So, we have decided to source the car from India," Frey said.

To push the sales in Europe, Hyundai Greece is also adopting tactics and popularity of cine star, Shah Rukh Khan. The company has asked HMI to provide the campaign photographs, as Shah Rukh is a popular figure there. Italy, the largest importer of Hyundai's small car also expressed confidence that the car would do well in that country.

Hyundai is an accepted brand with 100,000 Getz having already been sold across Europe. The conglomerate hopes to sell 290,000 cars in Europe this year.

To strengthen its presence in Europe, Hyundai and Kia have set up an R&D centre in Russelsheim, on the outskirts of Frankfurt, at a cost of euro 50 million. The company also plans to set up a manufacturing base in Europe.

The design centre will be assisting the company's overall strategy to reduce the number of platforms from the present 27 to 7 by 2009.

Hyundai Motor Company president J Kim said with its new endeavours, Hyundai will emerge among the top five automobile manufacturers by 2010.

He said the Albama plant in the United States is on schedule and will be operational by 2005 spring. As part of the efforts to lower emission levels, Hyundai will be launching a new diesel engine for Getz next year, he added.