Hyundai Motor to Increase Focus On Export Markets.

NEW DELHI: India's second largest carmaker Hyundai Motor on Wednesday said it will focus more on the export markets in the coming months to counter low sales in the domestic passenger car segment.

"Our first priority is always the domestic market, but in the last few months it is quite down.

"So in order to keep our overall sales momentum intact, we are reviewing our focus on export destinations," Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Director Marketing and Sales Arvind Saxena told PTI on the sidelines of the SIAM summit here.

HMIL currently exports its products to over 110 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and the European region.

The company had diverted some of its exports volumes earlier this year to meet the growing domestic demand.

"We are not going into any new markets for exports, but pushing more volumes in the existing markets where we have been present for the last few years," he said.

In the last two months, HMIL's domestic sales have fallen but exports are continuously rising.

In July the company sold 25,642 units in the domestic market, compared to 28,811 units in the same month last year.

However, export sales increased to 24,025 units in July this year from 21,600 units in July last year.

Even in August, the company's domestic sales fell to 26,677 units from 28,601 units in the year-ago period and exports went up to 24,353 units, against 22,032 units.

In 2010, the company had sold 3,56,717 units in the domestic market and 2,47,102 units in the export market.

When asked about demand slowdown in India, Saxena said, "Yes, in the last few months it has been bad and sales are low because of fuel price hikes and rising interest rate."

"There have been a lot of enquiries, but those are not converting into purchases," he added.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com