Hyundai just rolled out its seven millionth car from a plant in India, close to two decades after entering the India market. YK Koo, Managing Director and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, takes us through the brand’s journey
By Neeta Nair
Hyundai, the second largest four-wheeler manufacturer in India, just rolled out its seven millionth car from a plant in India, close to two decades after entering the India market. YK Koo, Managing Director and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, takes us through the brand’s journey and endeavour to become the most loved car in India
Q] Tell us a little about your ‘Safe Move’ campaign and the marketing mix for it?
Safe Move is one of the key pillars of Hyundai Motor Group’s CSR initiatives across the globe. Safe Move – Traffic safety Campaign in India focuses on spreading awareness about traffic safety amongst children in a fun and engaging manner. In phase one, we reached out to 23,000 students and 5,700 residents across 42 schools and 46 Resident Welfare Associations activations and also spread the message through RobocarPoli TV Series. We are now in phase two which is digitally led and revolves around Hyundai’s corporate brand ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan. We have made four films on various facets of road safety featuring him which are being promoted through our digital channels.
Q] When Hyundai launched in India, you roped in Shah Rukh Khan as your brand ambassador. To what extent is he responsible for making Hyundai a household name here?
In a lot of ways Hyundai’s journey is synonymous with Shah Rukh Khan’s growth as a professional in the industry. When Hyundai began in 1996 we were the outsiders just like Khan was in his line of work. His growth as a professional artist was backed by his hard work and commitment to profession and Hyundai grew on the back of dedication and commitment to develop world class automobiles that are --Made in India for the world. Team Hyundai, stuck together and forged the longest standing brand endorsement in Indian brand and marketing history with Shah Rukh Khan for India’s first tall boy car ‘Santro’. Its design, performance, delivery on road and even the brand proposition was different from the existing brands in the market then. We have recorded total sales of more than 1.3 million units since its inception.
Q] Tell us a little about the Hyundai Tucson, the newly launched premium crossover-SUV?
Hyundai as Modern and Innovative brand always brings New Products, New Designs, New Technologies and New Experiences. The all new Tucson is a Modern & Confident SUV with elegant and sleek looks.
Q] Hyundai has reported 4.72% increase in total sales at 59,211 units in September, what kind of sales target did you set for the brand this festive season?
Hyundai Motor India is India’s second largest passenger car manufacturer and the largest exporter. We continue to make further inroads into the country, in the minds and hearts of our customers. For the current year, we have set ourselves a sales target of five lakh units in domestic market and 1.6 lakh units for exports. We believe that festival season, backed by a good monsoon will boost car sales.
Q] Hyundai India has been a prominent player in the compact segment. What is your strategy to make inroads in the premium sedan segment?
Over past two decades our growth in the market can be directly correlated with our ability to assess shifts in consumer preference and adapt accordingly. Hyundai has continued to offer products that present best in class features at very affordable price points. Premium sedan segment will be redefined by the new Hyundai Elantra. In the pursuit to achieve world’s best technology, the All New Elantra is the culmination of 26 years of continuous and dedicated research by Hyundai Motor. It has a strong fan following gaining positive momentum in the market as ‘India’s Prestigious Companion’.
Q] What have been your efforts to increase sales in the Indian market?
The sales grew at the rate of 8.9% during January 2016 ~ August 2016 (327844 units) compared to January 2015 ~ August 2015 (300969 units). The Indian market is one of the fastest growing economies across the globe recording a consistent GDP growth of over six per cent. We see a lot of opportunity in both urban and rural markets for us to grow and enhance market share. In the urban markets we foresee that a significant part of this discretionary spending will be directed towards automobiles either as an upgrade or through an outright purchase. Rural markets are an opportunity waiting to be tapped and will be a key component in Hyundai’s strategy to acquire more market share in Indian automobile market. The company’s approach to these markets in 2016 is an ideal mix of dealerships, service initiatives and increased rural sales outlets.
Q] Can you elaborate on Hyundai’s rural strategy?
We have customized schemes for farmers, traders and Panchayat members for convenient buying process. We have ‘Hyundai Champions’ who are essentially people from villages who promote the HMIL range of cars to prospective buyers. The appointment of ‘Hyundai Champions’ is another step by HMIL to create job opportunities in the rural areas while creating a connect with the customers. HMIL also customizes sales promotion offers with various finance companies to create better affordability of our products to customers in these markets. Various rural sales focused activities are being conducted for brand building and sales resulting into conversions. Few successful activities recently are ‘Hyundai Ne Bana Di Jodi’ and ‘Eon Rural Van Campaign’.
Q] There has always been a huge gap between the number one and number two carmaker in India....what are the steps you are taking to reduce that gap?
With 17% market share in 20 years we have firmly established ourselves as India’s most loved auto manufacturer, which offers unmatched value at very affordable price points. We aim to gain market leadership through the introduction of two new advanced products every year. We will have a complete line up of products and have an offering in every segment. We will also have a wide network of sales and service, dealerships in urban and rural centres, to be close to customers. I am confident that our customer friendly dealer network, products with innovative features which are high on safety and reliability and of course of very high quality, will heighten customer satisfaction to make us the most loved and trusted brand.
Q] What are the challenges the brand faces?
The only challenge that I see for us in the market is that the competition has a head start over us, but we are working hard to change that. Hyundai Motor India has achieved a unique distinction as the top league of Quality Manufacturers achieving fourth rank in 2015 JD Power Initial Quality Study. Our products the Eon, i10, and Elite i20 have been voted in their segment as the best. At Hyundai we believe that challenges are the opportunities in disguise. Our team came here right after the economic reforms were ushered in by the then Indian government. The challenge in those times was availability of quality manpower, vendor resources and support infrastructure but the team pursued their ambition of Make in India for the world. We worked with our vendors and created a supplier infrastructure here in Chennai and adjoining areas. On the brand side, the challenge was to position Korean manufacturing as reliable, sturdy and value delivering just as much as the existing brands in the market if not more.
Q] Which are the brands you are betting on and what are the upcoming cars from the Hyundai stable?
All Hyundai brands are trendsetters in Indian market and enjoy the trust of customers. Our models like Eon, Grand i10, i10, i20 and recently Creta and Elantra have customer’s aspirations, generating large number of enquiries and customer interest. QXi is the project name for the next the sub-four meter SUV below Creta, scheduled to launch in 2019-20. With the launch of Qxi, we expect that our SUVs will contribute to about 25% of overall volume.
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