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Hyundai to launch Terracan SUV in India

The Indian unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co will launch its Terracan sports utility vehicle in the domestic market in July or August, a senior company official said on Wednesday.

A P Gandhi, president of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, told a news conference the company would import the Terracan as fully built units for sale in India which will carry a price tag of about Rs 1.8-2.0 million.

The company would consider local manufacture of these vehicles only if it succeeds in selling 200 to 300 units of these a month.

Hyundai India is a wholly owned subsidiary of the South Korean firm. It entered India in September 1998 with the Santro, launched the Accent in 1999 and the Sonata in July 2001 and has grown into the country's second largest car company.

Gandhi said the company was also evaluating the response to its Elantra car and the Matrix multi-purpose vehicle at India's sixth biennial automobile fair and would consider launching them if it found the response appropriate.

He said the company was aiming to sell over 100,000 cars in 2002, nearly 11 percent more than the 90,028 cars it sold in 2001. It was also poised to increase car prices, the extent of which would vary on different models, he added.

Hyundai India, which has so far invested over $614 million to set up an integrated car plant near the southern port city of Madras, posted a profit of over 1.0 billion rupees in the year to March 2001, making it one of only two profitable car makers in India.

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