Accent goes dual fuel with CNG

New Delhi, June 9, 2007: Hyundai Motor India, the second largest passenger car manufacturer in India and the largest exporter of automobiles today expanded its range of alternate fuel vehicles by including the Accent in its fold. From today onwards the immensely popular mid size sedan – the Accent will be available in CNG variant as well. Last year HMIL had introduced a CNG variant for its flagship model Santro.The Accent which was initially launched in the Indian market in 1999 and had been the best selling car for a long time will now provide the future owners with a more economical and environment friendly drive. The dual fuel Accent will use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as an alternate fuel. The Accent comes with a 1.5 litre petrol engine which without any modification is compatible with CNG. HMI has tied up with the leading CNG kit supplier CEV of Korea who will supply all the components of the CNG fitment. The kit is not only safe but with an advanced Lambda control system ensures that it meets the Euro III emission norms. To ensure that there are no flaws in the fitment process, HMI has an exclusive arrangement with leading fitment specialist CEV to retro fit the kits on the Accent model. Initially, the CNG Accent will be launched in Delhi and the NCR areas and all Hyundai dealers in Delhi and NCR, in collaboration, with CEV India are equipped to sell and service the CNG Accent. The CNG Accent would have a manual selector switch, which would enable the driver to easily switch from gasoline to CNG and vice versa. The on-board CNG cylinder has a capacity of approximately 12kg and the running cost on CNG for the Accent is estimated to be in the region of Rs 1.15 km or even less depending on the driving cycle. This leads to a savings of almost 60 – 70% for the consumer. Commenting on the introduction of the CNG Accent, H. S Lheem, MD, Hyundai Motor India said “The Accent has been one of our best selling models ever since its launch. Offering it with a CNG kit will only add to its appeal as it will not only be cheaper to run but also eco friendly. The Accent has always been a very strong product in its segment and with the CNG variant our customers would find it a really attractive proposition as it has all one can look for in this class of cars.” The Accent had recently been approved by DGS&D for use by both the Central and State government departments. About HMIL Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea and is the second largest and the fastest growing car manufacturer in India. HMIL presently markets 30 variants of passenger cars across segments. The Santro in the B segment, the Getz Prime and the i10 in the B+ segment, the Accent and the Verna in the C segment, the Sonata Embera in the E segment and the Tucson in the SUV segment. Hyundai Motor India, continuing its tradition of being the fastest growing passenger car manufacturer, registering total sales of 327,160 vehicles in the calendar year (CY) 2007, an increase of 9.2 percent over CY 2006. In the domestic market it clocked a growth of 7.6 percent as compared to 2006 with 200,412 units, while overseas sales grew by 11.8 percent, with exports of 126,748 units. HMIL’s fully integrated state-of-the-art manufacturing plant near Chennai boasts of the most advanced production, quality and testing capabilities in the country. In continuation of its commitment to provide the Indian customer with global technology, HMIL has set up its second plant, which produces an additional 300,000 units per annum, raising HMIL’s total production capacity to 600,000 units per annum. HMIL is investing to expand capacity in line with its positioning as HMC’s global export hub for compact cars. Apart from expansion of production capacity, HMIL plans to expand its dealer network, which will be increased from 230 to 300 this year. The year 2007 has been a significant year for Hyundai Motor India. It achieved a significant milestone by rolling out the fastest 400,000th export car. Hyundai exports to over 90 countries globally; even as it plans to continue its thrust in existing export markets, it is gearing up to step up its foray into new markets. The year just ended also saw Hyundai Motor India attaining other milestones with the launch of the i10 and yet another path-breaking record in its young journey by rolling out the fastest 1,500,000th car. Hyundai’s new model i10 which made its global debut here in India in October, 2007 made a clean sweep of all the ‘Car of the Year 2008’ awards from the leading automotive magazines and TV channels like BS Motoring, CNBC-TV18 AutoCar, NDTV Profit Car & Bike India and Overdrive magazine. The i10 is also the choice of the discerning automotive media of the country as they conferred the prestigious ‘Indian Car of the Year’ (ICOTY) award to the i10 as well. The i10 bagged these awards on the basis of excellence in build quality, handling, driver comfort, safety and ride quality. The Santro and the Accent also received the ‘TNS Voice of the Customer - 2008’ award for the Premium Compact Car (Santro) and the Entry Mid size Car (Accent). In March 2008 it achieved yet another milestone by rolling out the fastest 500,000th export car. Last year, the Hyundai Verna bagged some of the most prestigious awards starting with the title of "Car of the Year 2007" by India`s leading automotive publication – Overdrive, the “Best Mid-size Car of the Year” award by the NDTV Profit Car & Bike India Awards 2007, the “Best Value for Money Car” by the CNBC Autocar Auto awards and ‘Performance Car of the Year 2007’ from Business Standard Motoring. Hyundai cars have been a favorite at all awards ceremonies and have always been winning awards. Our models like Sonata Embera won the ‘Executive Car of The Year 2006’ award from Business Standard Motoring Magazine and NDTV Profit Car & Bike India declared the Tucson as the ‘SUV of The Year 2006’. Not only this, HMIL has also been awarded the benchmark ISO 14001 certification for its sustainable environment management practices. Related:- Maruti 800 Duo: Lpg variant Launched

BS Motoring awards 2008

BS Motoring awards 2008, the oldest automotive awards in the country were recently declared and following are the winners:-
Hyundai i10 won the Business Standard Motoring Car of the Year 2008 award. It had a stiff competition from Mahindra Renault Logan, Chevrolet Spark, Maruti Suzuki’s SX4, the BMW 3 and 5 Series and the Volkswagen Passat.

Hyundai earlier won the COTY awards for the Santro in 1998 and the Getz in 2005.

The recently launched i10 has set a new bench mark in the small car segment with its build quality, ride, handling, driveability, comfort, safety features, fuel efficiency and yet a very competitive price.

The Bajaj XCD redefined the entry level bike segment in the country. Offering the best of technology and features at an extremely affordable price impressed the juries and won the Bike of the year award for the XCD. The XCD faced competition from TVS Apache RTR160, the Pulsar 200 & Pulsar 220.

Winner in the other categories were as follows:
Chevrolet Spark: Business Standard Motoring Best Value Award 2008.
Mahindra Renault Logan: Business Standard Motoring Jury Award 2008.
BMW 325i: Business Standard Motoring Performance Car of the Year 2008.
Volkswagen Passat: Business Standard Motoring Premium Car of the Year 2008.
TVS Apache RTR 160: Business Standard Motoring Performance Bike of the year 2008.
Kinetic-Sym Flyte: Business Standard Motoring Scooter of the Year 2008.

Update1:- Created a poll for Car of the Year and Bike of the Year (Right hand side panel)
So please kindly select the Car and Bike you think are winner, also leave comments as to why you think they deserve to win. We will have our winners just before the Auto Expo where most of the awards are likely to be announced.

Update2:- Poll now closed. Here are the results:-Click

Earlier poll:- Most preffered bike in 150cc segment.

Hyundai Pa(i10) will be launched on Nov 1

Earlier post on Hyundai Pa i10 here.

Update :- Hyundai unveils new Hyundai Pa I10
Hyundai Motor India Ltd will launch its compact car i10, code named Pa, in the country on November 1.
The car will be available in 10 colours. It will have a sun roof, the first for a compact car. The i10 is expected to be priced between Rs 3.7 lakh and Rs 3.9 lakh.
India is set to be the global manufacturing hub for the compact car. The Korean auto firm plans to more than double its export volumes from India in the next two years. Hyundai aims to export one lakh units this fiscal and expects to increase this to 2.5 lakh units in the next two years. Hyundai cars comprise about 70 per cent of India’s auto exports.Apart from the Santro, plans are afoot to bring models such as the Getz and the Accent under the export fold as the manufacturing capacity increases. The company’s new plant in Chennai with a capacity of three lakh units is expected to go on stream by October this year. This will take Hyundai’s total capacity to six lakh units. It is also being speculated that a Santro variant may be in the offing. The company had launched the Santro Xing in 2003. Company officials said it had already slashed prices of the Santro. However, industry sources said a variant with fewer features and a price cut of Rs 70,000 or above might be on the cards. Hyundai sells around 18,000 units per month with Santro accounting for 13,000 to 14,000 units.
Source The Telegraph

"Like the compact car 'Pa', which will be launched shortly, we are also developing another model in the D-segment for the Indian market, Besides, we are also working on LPG Santro for launch next year." Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) Managing Director and CEO HS Lheem said.
He said the proposed D-segment car, expected to hit the market in a "couple of years", would be a global model developed and produced in India.
The car is expected to be pitched against the likes of Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla and the segment will witness stiff competition with Maruti Suzuki also planning a product in the same category by 2009.

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