Hyundai to make India its global small car hub, eyes No.1 spot

The final product, Lheem said, would be launched by 2010 and would meet the demand of India and other emerging markets. "We will gauge the response to Nano and will develop the product accordingly to set the next aspiration level," he said.

The company, Lheem said, is also planning to ramp up its export from India.

"In the first half, about 42 percent of our produce were exported to over 95 countries. But with the slowdown in the domestic industry, it is likely to increase up to 50 percent for the second half," Lheem said, adding that HMIL would produce 5.3 lakh units this year, of which about 2.7 lakh units would be exported. HMIL currently exports Santro, Getz, i10 and Accent across the world. It, however, would replace export of Getz with i20, after the introduction of the car in the market.

"From the next year, we will increase our production capacity to 6.3 lakh cars including 20,000 CKD (completely knocked down) units, by starting the third shift," he said. The CKDs would be exported to emerging markets in Europe and Asia, he added.

The engines, Lheem said, would be exported to Hyundai Motor Co.'s Korean partner Kia Motors. "A certain portion will also go to Malaysian and other Asian markets," he said.

The company, which has entered its 10th year of operations in India, has set up a $250 million engine and transmission plant in Chennai, which has an annual production capacity of 2.5 lakh units.