COVID-19 impact: Hyundai expects to cross yearly domestic growth threshold

Healthy off-take in the up-country market segment along with robust response for new offerings has reinforced India's image as one of the most attractive markets for automobile major Hyundai.

Accordingly, the company expects to cross the year-on-year domestic threshold in August, while maintaining strong sequential growth momentum.

In a conversation with IANS, HMIL's Director Sales and Marketing Tarun Garg cited the healthy response for SUV Creta along with initiatives like car subscription and 'Click-to-Buy' as a trigger for growth.

"We are hopeful that sales momentum will continue in August and even record growth on sequential and YoY basis. However, it must be noted that sales from July to September last year was not very healthy," Garg told IANS.

"There has been a good response to new offerings, plus, there were two major festivals this month. The Up-country markets like Punjab, Jharkhand, Haryana and MP have performed much better than urban centres. This may be due to lower the number of cases and growth in crop remuneration."

Besides, he pointed out that COVID triggered a shift from public transport to personal mobility options and the low automobile ownership in India as her major reasons for healthy sales pick-up.

Last month, the auto major's domestic sales volume reached 98 per cent of July 2019 level.

The company's domestic sales accounted for 38,200 units, while it exported another 3,100 units.

Overall, the auto major reported cumulative sales of 41,300 units during July 2020.

Recently, the company launched 'Intelligent Manual Transmission, Elantra diesel BS6, Venue iMT, New Verna, 2020 Tucson'.

The SUV Creta's second generation was launched in March.

Even as sales' prospect seems promising, Garg cautioned against an element of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic's progression.

"We still don't know how things will pan-out in the long run. There is an upside regarding the vaccine as well as a downside regarding predictions of a second wave," he explained.

"We believe that a cure will be found and that India's growth prospects remain unscathed. There is a good enough room to grow in the country."

On the fuel mix, he said that currently, HMIL offers diesel-fuelled cars from entry to premium level and that the engine option will remain.

"We believe that customers should have a wider choice. Our sales (data) shows that diesel option has a substantial share in some of our leading SUVs," he said.

Furthermore, he revealed that the company is offering new services, technologies and products to buck the trend.

"Our initiatives like 'Click-to-Buy' has enabled us to be much better prepared and to become agile to deal with any situation," he added.

"Around 3,000 subscriptions have been received for the leasing model. All in all, from online buying to easy finance options, we are trying our best to make it convenient for the customer to go ahead and make the purchase."