Hyundai, on Wednesday, launched its compact sedan Xcent at an introductory price ranging between Rs.4.66 lakh and Rs.7.38 lakh. The sedan, which is based on the same platform as the compact car Grand i10, will take on Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Honda Amaze in the Indian market.
The Xcent will be available in two engine options of 1.2 litre petrol and 1.1 litre diesel. “Developed with the best of Hyundai Motor’s world class technologies, Xcent will create a new benchmark in terms of quality, design, space, features and driving pleasure in the compact sedan segment. We have invested extensive effort in competitively pricing Xcent to offer excellent value,” B. S. Seo, Managing Director and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said. With the launch of this model, the company is hoping for a positive sales growth this year after witnessing an overall decline of 1.2 per cent at 6.33 lakh units in 2013. “The compact sedan segment has been one of the major drivers of the Indian car market with about 24,000 units a month. We believe the segment will continue to grow and Xcent will further increase the growth,” HMIL Senior Vice-President Rakesh Srivastava told reporters here. This model is among the four new models that the company plans to launch in the next two years, including a compact sports utility vehicle (SUV).
“We are the second largest car manufacturer in the country and we are hungry for volumes and market share. Last year, our share in the country stood at 20.7 per cent. We believe Xcent would help to add to this market share further,” he added. At present, Maruti’s Dzire is the segment leader and is priced between Rs.4.85 lakh and Rs.7.32 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). Mr. Srivastava said the company had enhanced its production capacity to 6.8 lakh units per annum from the earlier 6.3 lakh units. “We can further enhance it to 7 lakh units. The hike in capacity would help us in reducing waiting periods of various products,” he added.
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The company sold 3.8 lakh units in domestic market last year, while 2.53 lakh units were exported to global markets.