The company is aiming to breach its previous peak of 2018 with sales of over 5.5 lakh this year — a growth of 9-10% over 2021, Tarun Garg, director of sales and marketing at Hyundai Motor India, told ET.
Speaking on the sidelines of the new Venue N Line launch, Garg said the semiconductor supply situation is easing and the same is clearly seen in the company’s numbers.
“The supply situation is easing; we are already producing at 90% of our capacity. We are hoping for the supply chain situation to move towards normalcy by 2023. You have seen our monthly sales moving to 49,000 units and with improved semiconductor supplies, we hope to sustain it. We are fairly confident that we will post our highest-ever domestic sales from Hyundai Motor India in CY2022,” he said.
The demand momentum is continuing for Hyundai due to positive sentiment around festivities and the company is sitting on an order book of 1.25 to 1.35 lakh units.
Due to chip shortage, Hyundai Motor India has lost some ground and its market share at the end of August has slipped to about 15% from close to 17% several quarters back, and homegrown rival
is inching closer to it.
Garg said the loss of market share is largely due to supply-chain challenges and is not a true reflection of real demand, as the booking momentum is robust. With improved supplies, Hyundai will be able to meet incremental demand in the coming months and post robust numbers.
The company is expecting the upcoming festive season to see sustained demand.
On the company’s sporty range N Line, Garg said the brand has brought in a lot of new incremental buyers and the demographic profile too has evolved with a higher share of millennial, Gen Z and female buyers when compared to mainstream models.
The N Line variants account for 10% of the i20’s total sales and Garg says he hopes to sell 10,000 units of Venue N Line and expects a similar share from the SUV. The company also plans to add more N Line variants in its portfolio in the future.
Garg said the high demand in the marketplace is despite the challenges of high inflation and rising interest, and this shows the “resilience” of the Indian economy.
“India’s resilience is standing out despite the global turmoil and volatile geopolitical situation. Consumption is going up and the economy is growing, and this is clearly reflecting in the demand for personal vehicles,” added Garg.
