Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), the country's second largest passenger maker, revealed that it will launch CNG fuelled variants of its popular hatchbacks Santro and i10 along with the Accent saloon in Hyderabad city on September 24, 2012. The company has come up with the decision to lure the Indian car enthusiasts towards Hyundai stores, who want to buy a diesel car but are not ready or willing spend as much money on it. Indian owners of Hyundai owners will have to shell out an extra amount of Rs. 56,000 towards the installation of the new CNG kit that includes a 60 litre fuel tank.
The car enthusiasts of Hyderabad and other parts of Andhra Pradesh now have the option of purchasing economical and eco-friendly vehicles. The Korean auto maker will add a dual fuel model of Santro, i10 and Accent cars that will use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as the second fuel option.
Reportedly, the company will provide the CNG kits at its dealerships, which will be compliant with all the standard and latest emission norms, besides ensuring better performance and safety of the models. HMIL has developed a cutting-edge drive train for the CNG compatible models that will deliver smooth and hassle free ride. Further, the company will not market the Accent sedan in Hyderabad. Currently, the Indian owners of Hyundai products can get CNG kits installed on their cars from private operators in the market, but doing so results in voiding the vehicle's warranty. Thus, the domestic buyers can install the new Hyundai approved CNG kits in their cars from the company's stores, without getting the warranty cancelled.
Expressing his views on the new development, Y.S. Lee, Zonal Manager (Southern region), HMIL, said, “CNG has established itself as an eco-friendly and economical fuel alternative. HMIL will now offer this choice of fuel to its Santro, i10 and Accent customers. This will increase the attractiveness of these models as it will bring down running costs.”
Reportedly, CNG run models are not as expensive as their diesel fuel counterparts, because its operating cost amounts to about 50 per cent of a petrol vehicle. Further, the recent Rs. 5 hike increase in diesel price has made the CNG option more lucrative for the Indian buyers.
It will be interesting to note how the Indian audience reacts to the availability of CNG kit in Hyundai cars. Installation of a CNG kit requires compromising on the boot storage, which may deter the domestic consumers to invest in the dual fuel option. The 60 kg fuel tank will add to the car's gross weight and surely will affect its performance output, besides CNG fuel is not easily available in most part of the countries except the metro cities and few North Indian states. However, those who commute daily and look for reducing cost will surely find CNG option viable as compared to the conventional petrol or diesel cars.
