According to R Sethuraman, Director, Finance and Corporate Affairs of Hyundai India, the falling rupee regime hasn't been affecting the company in any manner. In fact, it has led them to explore the international automobile market by increasing exports. He gave this statement at the launch of the company's premium hatchback, Grand i10. The starting price of this car is Rs. 4.29 lakh and is placed between i10 and i20. It is available in both variants, petrol and diesel. Targeted at the youngsters, it comes in eight attractive colours namely Twilight Blue, Wine Red, Phantom Black, Stardust, Golden Orange, Silky Beige, Pure White and Sleek Silver.
The domestic auto industry has faced a decline of around 14 per cent but Hyundai's market share has climbed up to 20.4 per cent as compared to 18.3 per cent last year. At a time when the whole nation is stressed with falling economy, Hyundai India seems to have taken advantage of the situation. Hyundai India is exporting to about 125 countries that makes it the largest exporter of the country. Around 40 per cent of its production is exported to countries of Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. As per experts venturing into the global market has helped Hyundai India safeguard itself from continuous fall in the value of Indian rupee.
The Indian economy has reached its lowest in the past two decades with the least value reaching in the month of August. All sects of nation have been hit by this sudden blow and there are no short term methods to recover from this situation. Automobile industry, being no exception, has seen sales figures going down in the past 10 months. The depreciation in the economy has hit the auto industry in multiple ways. First of all, the input costs have seen an increment because most of these companies use imported components. Secondly, some subsidiary companies would also be required to pay royalty to their parent firms and thirdly, some firms have foreign currency loans that were taken in the form of foreign currency convertible bonds or external commercial bondings.
A little growth was witnessed in the overall sales of the industry in the month of August but a small lift couldn't help cover the whole year's downfall. Industry experts say that the situation is here to stay for sometime, at least this fiscal year is going to see no improvements. The only hope that companies are presently left with is the festive season, when sales of automobiles is the highest. Thankfully, the two wheeler market has seen growth in its sales and it is the only good news of this financial year. All companies have got themselves involved to make profits in the festive season which would stay till the year end. Nearly all auto makers are coming up with new models or upgraded versions of their successful vehicles.
As of now, no hike has been talked about by any of these firms but some international brands might go for raising the prices. Hyundai India has been able to save itself from the crashing economy but the question that lingers in everyone's mind is for how long is the industry going to survive like this. There has to be a solution for these testing times.
