Hyundai India to bump up production of Grand i10

Hyundai India has hit bull's eye with the Grand i10, an all-new car that is based on an extended wheelbase platform of the 2014 Euro-spec i10 hatchback. The Grand i10, which sits between the i10 and i20 hatchbacks in terms of price and positioning, has managed to breach the 10,000 units/month sales figure in just the second month of the car going on sale in India. The stiff demand has meant that some variants of the Grand i10 command a 2 month waiting period while other variants are available with a 1 month waiting period. 

Although the Grand i10's wait times aren't as high as the 8-12 month waiting periods that the Ford EcoSport variants are saddled with, Hyundai wants to make the Grand i10 available off-the-shelf. For this the car maker plans to bump up its current annual output of 6.3 lakh cars at the Sriperumbudur factory, to 6.8 lakh cars/annum. This production increase will be achieved by re-engineering the factory, that will liberate an additional capacity of 50,000 cars/annum. A time frame hasn't been announced for the proposed capacity expansion. 

Hyundai India, which is a major exporter of cars from India, is currently utilizing 99 % of the 6.3 lakh cars/year capacity of its Sriperumbudur factory. Therefore, the additional 50,000 units/year capacity addition will greatly serve to reduce waiting periods of the high-demand Grand i10. Given the fact that automatic variants of the Grand i10 are in the pipeline in the coming months, demand for this B+ segment hatchback may grow further. 

Breaking convention, Hyundai is rumoured to have plans of launching a automatic gearbox equipped, diesel engined Grand i10. For a country that puts fuel efficiency at the forefront, a diesel engined automatic hatchback could find eager takers as such a car will combine the twin virtues of convenience and fuel efficiency. The Grand i10 Automatic will also be available with a petrol engine option. Both the petrol and diesel automatic variants of the Grand i10 could feature a 4 speed automatic gearbox, which does duty on the likes of the i10 and i20 automatics.