Riding high on the success of Grand i10, Hyundai is planning to increase the production of its newly launched model so as to cut down on the waiting period. Lending a comment on the overwhelming response meted out to Grand i10, Senior Vice-President and Division Head for Marketing & Sales, Rakesh Srivastava, said "We are overwhelmed by the response that the Grand i10 has generated. We are recalibrating our production to serve our customers faster." On being asked about the amount of increase in production of Grand i10, he did not specify the figures.
He explained how the Grand i10 has catapulted into one of the most successful vehicles in the market. “The Grand i10 has generated a lot of interest across the country since its launch last month. Within the first month of the launch the Grand i10 was among the top five highest selling models in India in September," he said.
As told by Hyundai, its latest offering accounted for 1.31 lakh enquiries since the car was launched in September 2013. Also to mention, Hyundai Motor India Limited has received 13,000 bookings till date. According to company officials, Asta and Sportz trims, the top-spec ones, have gathered a waiting period of two months, while for base variants Era and Magna, the waiting time has reached one month. Srivastava said "Despite the challenging market scenario this quarter, we feel Grand i10 will continue to generate substantial customer interest and excitement all throughout." He further told that the company delivered 8411 units in September while around 4500 booking orders are still pending.
It must be noted that the two facilities of Hyundai are situated in Chennai and the cumulative production capacity stands at 6.40 lakh units per annum. Grand i10 was recently launched in the Indian car market in both petrol and diesel fuel options. The car has caught the attention of Indian car buyers owing to its best-in-class features like Anti-locking Braking System (ABS), rear air-conditioning vents, push start/stop button functionality, tilt steering, electrically foldable and adjustable outside mirrors. In addition, this hatchback comes with rear parking sensors, dual tone interiors, steering mounted controls, keyless entry system and Bluetooth connectivity. To extract maximum mileage, Grand i10 is also provided with a digital gear shift reminder that tells the best possible time for shifting gears.
In order to aggressively price its car, Hyundai has developed a low-specification diesel engine. The new 1.1-litre U2 diesel engine produces peak power of 70 bhp. As claimed by Hyundai, this engine is capable returning a fuel efficiency of 24 kmpl, which is certified by Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI). In fact, Grand i10 diesel is the cheapest diesel offering for Hyundai in India. On the other hand, petrol variant of Grand i10 is powered by 1.2-litre Kappa Dual VTVT engine that generates 81 bhp of power. Both petrol and diesel variants are available in manual transmission options. For buying the base variant of Grand i10, buyers need to shell out Rs. 4.29 lakh while the top-spec variant carries a price tag of Rs. 6.41 lakh (all figures are ex-showroom Delhi).
