The Hindu Business Line : Hyundai to expand R&D centre

Hyderabad, Feb. 12 The country’s second largest automotive manufacturer, Hyundai Motor India, is set to expand its R&D centre based in Hyderabad, significantly stepping up computer-aided design and engineering work for the company’s global operations.

The automaker has constructed its own development centre and expects to commission it in May, wherein it plans to host 800 engineers by March 2010, up from 200 now.

The Managing Director of HMIL, Mr H.S. Lheem, said, “the Hyderabad centre along with the one at Chennai, forms four major R&D centres for the company. We have invested $28 million in the Hyderabad centre. This centre will also play a role in data analysis.”

VERNA AUTOMATIC

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday to announce the launch of automatic transmission version of Verna, Mr Lheem said that the company launched three new cars in less than 45 days, including i20 hatch, Sonata and Verna automatic, and expects to set the momentum going.

He said that there is no plan to roll out i30 in India as yet.

“We are no exception to the general overall economic conditions impacting automotive sales. However, the company is confident of exporting over 2.8-3 lakh cars during the year. We expect a clear picture to emerge within a couple of months,” he said.

WORK PATTERN

“Due to slowdown, the company has changed the work pattern of three shifts from 8+8+7 hours to two shifts of 9+9 hours with the addition of one extra hour a shift. Depending upon the market conditions, we will step up production,” he said.

“Hyundai has made India as a hub for small car production for all the company’s global requirements. We account for about 70 per cent of the country’s total automotive exports from India. If the Government supports such exports, we will be able to step this up further,” he said.

Asked about the small car project, Mr Lheem said that they have no intention of competing with the Tata Nano. However, the company is developing a smaller car than Santro. No deadline has been set for this.

The company’s senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Mr Arvind Saxena, said that the company will announce a hike in car prices across various models which could be up to 3 per cent.

Asked why they are opting for hikes during such tough market conditions, Mr Saxena said, “typically automotive prices are based on long-term contracts and have nothing to do with spot prices of various inputs. Since these are based on long-term deals, we will hike prices later today.”

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