Hyundai Verna and i20 diesel waiting time to reduce

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) has increased the production of the diesel variants of its bestsellers, the Verna and i20, by up to 50 per cent from today. Hyundai is expected to produce around 10,500 units of both diesel cars from the existing 7,000 units per month. HMIL has also increased sourcing of the diesel power-trains from South Korea to meet the increasing demand owing to the wide disparity in petrol and diesel prices.

HMIL director, Arvind Saxena expects the waiting period for the Verna to reduce to 2-3 months from the existing 6 months and for the new generation i20 to about a month. He said, “Our customers have shown great patience, waited for months. We owe it to them to deliver the cars earlier”. Hyundai is eyeing the unhappy waiting customer to eat into the market share of its competitors, by being able to sell cars off the shelf.

Hyundai had put the plans for the diesel engine plants on hold owing to the expected tax restructuring over diesel cars. After the 2012-13 budget has left the tax structure unchanged, Hyundai is said to be re-evaluating the situation. The new engine plant will help Hyundai cut the existing diesel variant costs and also ease the logistics burden on the supply chain. Hyundai can probably offer a 3-cylinder diesel in the i10 or the Eon at a lower price.