Hyundai Motor India Limited, the country's largest exporter and second largest passenger car maker, is developing a new hatchback for the domestic market. The company is looking at augmenting its Indian product portfolio and would introduce a compact hatchback, codenamed BA sometime around this year's festive season. The Hyundai BA model would be pitched between the company's i10 and i20 models, in terms of price point.
As per industry sources, the South Korean auto major could also be looking at removing its ageing Santro Xing model from the domestic passenger car market. At present, the i10 hatchback is Hyundai Motor India's top selling product that is expected to support the company's sales, in case the Santro Xing is discontinued in the country. Hyundai i10 became the South Korean auto maker's best selling car in India, when it clocked impressive sales of 1.6 lakh units last year.
The Hyundai BA would be bigger and more powerful than the i10 and is pegged as a new potential rival for the segment-leader Maruti Suzuki Swift. Some industry experts have also labelled the upcoming BA compact hatch as the next generation i10 model. The South Korean auto major is believed to introduce its BA in both petrol and diesel powered options in the Indian auto market.
Hyundai Motor India is betting big on its yet-to-be launched BA compact hatchback and is expecting it to become its top selling model in the country, in future. The company has also revealed intentions to ship its BA car to several overseas markets. The Hyundai BA would be assembled at the company's Chennai based manufacturing facility. Speaking his mind on the company's upcoming compact hatchback, Bo Shin Seo, Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hyundai Motor India Limited, was quoted as saying, “Apart from the domestic market, we will be exporting it. We expect it to be our largest selling model.”
