[RavenAvi]

Hyundai Motor India Limited, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, has completed 20 years in the Indian market.

Earlier today, at a small ceremony to commemorate the occasion, the top management of HMIL, vendors & dealer partners, received a baton-scroll from Mr. Young Key Koo, Hyundai Motor India Limited’s Managing Director, as a token of their pledge & strong commitment to achieve Hyundai Motor India’s vision of becoming ‘a market leader’, ‘the most beloved & trusted car brand through modern premium brand experience’ and ‘a great place to work’.

Exactly 20 years back, on 6th May 1996, the foundation for Hyundai India's first integrated car manufacturing plant outside Korea, in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, was laid.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. YK Koo, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Limited, said:

“This is a very important milestone for us. 20 years ago we only had a dream of transforming the Indian auto industry by introducing contemporary products and today that dream has come true. We were also the first proponents of “Make in India” and showcasing India’s manufacturing prowess to the world. That vision is validated with HMIL and India remaining at the heart of HMC’s global operations and a key hub for exports. We have received tremendous support from the Indian customer and I am confident that this support and co-operation continues, going forward.”

Mr. YK Koo also spoke about Hyundai’s vision to reach more customers by launching 2 new products every year, expanding its footprint across the country to offer the customer, products and services beyond their expectation. More GDSI & digital showrooms, automated workshops, introduction of ‘Experience Hyundai’ programmes for brand & product, sponsorships etc. are in the offing.

He also stressed on Hyundai India's ambitious plans of crossing 5-lakh sales in the current fiscal year. For the record, Hyundai India posted ~4,84,000 sales in 2015-16, with a market share of 17.36%. The Korean auto giant has invested a total $3.1 billion (Rs 19,582 crore) in India since inception and has sold a cumulative 41,89,875 cars in the domestic market and exported 23,56,805 made-in-Chennai cars worldwide as well.

As part of the year-long celebrations, HMIL has also launched a new logo to illustrate its 20 years of success and togetherness in India.

Official Press Release

[Amit_breakfree]

Congrats Hyundai for achieving this landmark. They are probably the only company right now which can give a fight to Maruti in the hatchback segment. Grand i10 and Elite i20 are already one of the top sellers in the market and they have been rightly so due to their superbly priced and packaged products.

They were one of the first companies who put a bet on India and they have succeeded in it in the long term. The journey from humble Santro to segment defining and creating i20 and Creta, Hyundai has certainly came a long way. With Hyundai's growth, the automotive sector will also grow and that will be beneficial for the industry and economy as well.

Wishing Hyundai many more successful years in the market.

[RavenAvi]

To commemorate this special occasion, Hyundai Motor India Limited has rolled out it's "20 Years Celebration" offer, valid for the whole month of May.

Among a host of offers across it's entire range (barring the Creta) and special additional benefits, 20 lucky customers stand to win as much as 20% cash back of the ex-showroom prices of their chosen Hyundai car purchases. This lucky draw will be held on each fortnight for the month.

Official Page

[dark.knight]

Whether its detractors admit or not, Hyundai has been the single car manufacturer in India to completely bring about a paradigm shift in the sector. There were promising manufacturers that tried doing the same before Hyundai like Fiat with its Uno & Palio, Ford with its Escort/Ikon or Daewoo with the Cielo & Matiz. Each of them failed either due to service support issues or lack of reliability. Cracking the Indian market is no walk in the park, even G.M the worlds largest failed here, although they never had much of an initiative/motive to begin with for India.

That is where Hyundai has to be applauded for, whether its the Santro with its segment leading features and engine, the country's first super-hatch in the form of the Getz, or the ahead-of-time SUV's like Terracan or Tucson they opened up the market in ways other manufacturers couldn't begin to imagine. Hyundai also brought about a new era in safety way back in 2009 when the < Rs.8 lakh i20 was introduced with a total of 6 airbags+ABS and then shortly the Verna with the same, the competition was completely blindsided by such moves and were nowhere close in terms of such offerings (the only other car that offered the same in that age was the 16+ lakh rupee Skoda Laura).

Hyundai has to remember that they got so far only by executing such offerings of no-compromise vehicles. They seem to be forgetting it of late, the humble Santro came with an automatic variant whereas today the i20 lacks it, the same i20 which brought the 6 airbags concept to small cars lacks them in the 3rd generation, useful features that cost nothing like ignition-locking or speed sensitive locking, DTE etc are being overlooked despite being in international variants and the heavy build of the Getz/1st Gen Elantra are no more present in current generations of the same size. It was intelligent design +practical (usable) features + great reliability that got them this far, if they indeed plan on taking the next step then they've to give today's customer more than ever at an unprecedented value. For today though they can rest on their accolades.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

To put a long story short- Hyundai taught India that small and inexpensive does not need to look and feel cheap.

Big salute to them for that.

But I personally have a grudge against them for compromising safety on the grand i10, but otherwise there is nothing to fault about Hyundai. They are growing fast without compromising brand image and quality, that in the not so distant future from now- "H" will be the new "H".

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

They are growing fast without compromising brand image and quality, that in the not so distant future from now- "H" will be the new "H".

I would say they are already the new H. And another positive is the fact that they are moving away from the over-styled fluidic designs.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by vb-san

I would say they are already the new H.

In terms of market recognition and brand image I meant. People purchase a Hyundai still because of the packaging, but many still purchase a Honda because it is a Honda. The next generation of Hyundai cars could be purchased in a similar way by satisfied owners.

Originally Posted by vb-san

And another positive is the fact that they are moving away from the over-styled fluidic designs.

True. Eon was probably the biggest example where fluidic styling went against them. Thankfully it's all been European influences afterwards.

[Rajeevraj]

Congratulations to Hyundai. The only manufacturer who has been able to challenge Maruti's dominance. Although in absolute numbers, they are far behind, the fact that they can sell relatively expensive cars like grand i10, Elite i20 and Creta in huge numbers in a price conscious market is a tribute to the trust they have gained and the quality standards they have been able to maintain. Even Maruti still relies on decade old models for the big numbers.

Over designing, average handling and lack of concern on safety features are some of the talked about downsides. But they seem to be working towards betterment in these areas with the recent launches.

[heavenlybull]

Good work Hyundai. We have had 3 Hyundai cars since they entered India and shook the market with the ever reliable Santro. They have really redefined the market as far as value for money is concerned. The only area where I wish they hadn't cut corners was safety, in which their cars so far crash tested, have fared miserably.

[crdi]

Good that they succeeded here. Had they not set-up shop here and tasted success, maruti would've gone the fiat/amby way and sold us outdated stuff.

[adutta2k]

20 years!!! I still remember the day when as a kid I went with my uncle to check the "new korean vehicle" which had come in the market (read santro) when my uncle wanted to buy a car. We did not buy it then since Hyundai was unknown to us and we went ahead with the ever reliable Maruti 800. But 4 years down the line when we wanted to replace the Maruti 800 it was the Santro. Even now I would have bought a Santro had it been available. Over time the designs have really evolved and european infuence can be clearly seen in their new vehicles. Who could imagine a rear view camera and auto dimming IRVM in a sub 10 lakh car a decade ago

Way to go Hyundai

[Rahul4]

20 years its been now and I still remember the Santro which was first introduced. Was a great car back then when compared to the other cars like Maruthi 800. We got our santro in the year 2000 when my dad decided to go for it rather than going for a maruthi 800 and the decision was never regretted because of the quality and smoothness. We had the car for almost 13 years till we had to sell it off and get a new hatch. The maintenance costs were low and it had a rigid body. Appreciate Hyundai a lot for such a quality build and for the same reason we got ourselves a Hyundai again. This is our faith with Hyundai cars. Especially the quality, comfort and peppy petrol engines.
Kudos Hyundai keep going.

[theroadrunner]

2 decades of smooth riding is indeed an amazing achievement for Hyundai. My association with Hyundai starts right from 1996 when Susee auto (Bajaj Dealers) opened its first Car dealership - Susee Hyundai in madurai. My mom used to work for the bajaj dealership and me being the son of the MD's secretary had the privilege of being there for the inaugural ceremony. I still have in possession the Korean Language plastic hand fan, that has the words "Atos" on it. Santro was called Atos abroad. And I also cherish the scale model of the first generation Santro with functional front doors. I still vividly remember reading the amount of market research they did prior to launching Santro. They also did an extensive study on the most sale-able celebrity and zeroed in on SRK to be its brand ambassador. 15 years later, when I wanted to but my first car, all I did was write out a cheque for my black Santro (The Roadrunner) with out a test drive. The black atos on the hand fan morped into my first car and been my trusted steed for the past 5 years. Kudos to them for inspiring a whole lot of well packaged cars and like what many have mentioned, Hyundai India should not rest on their laurels and continue producing segment defining products. All the best Hyundai!!

Sorry, the dealership was launched in 1998-99.

UPDATE:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...w/52196884.cms

Mods: Please edit this into my previous post please.

[rr_zen]

Congratulations to Hyundai on this cherished milestone. I still remember seeing the first Santro way back in the late 90's and it looked radically different from the Marutis of those days with its tallboy design. They've come a long way indeed now having been successful at understanding the typical Indian customer's mindset.

OT: Have this question in mind for which I do not want to start a new thread but I often wonder if any or all manufacturers retain a sample piece of every model that they manufacture which they preserve as part of legacy. For eg: Maruti 800 SS80; the first Santro and so on.

[ramprakashr]

Congratulations Hyundai. All the cars in our family being a Hyundai, I feel real happy for these Koreans. Didn't have any affinity to the brand initially, but Hyundai eventually/silently grew upon us and every purchase of us turned out to be a Hyundai, not just because it was Hyundai. Thanks to their consistent service (though a bit pricey) and refreshing line of products.

It's great to see these Koreans do wonders in a market like India. As discussed before, it's like the famous gangnam style dance. They don't have the grace of a ballet dancer, but somehow they manage to win hearts in an unorthodox fashion. The same brand though hasn't seen much success with their home electronics section though. Hyundai continues to sell ACs, TVs, Washing machines and other white electronics...

Here's to add some nostalgia :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s9rJfUcP6c