NEW DELHI: Hyundai Motor India will increase the production capacity at its Chennai facility to 8,20,000 units from the existing 7,65,000 units as demand rises, a senior executive said on Tuesday.
"There is still pain ahead due chip shortage. However, supply chain constraints have eased and we're sitting on a back-order of 1,15,000 customer bookings," Tharun Garg, COO said.
He added that the geopolitical and macroeconomic situations pose challenges, and inflation and raising interest rates are a cause of concern as 80% of the cars that are bought are financed.
Garg said that the company's electric vehicle (EV) Ioniq 5 has seen 800 bookings. They have to work on the supply chain and charging infrastructure, he said.
The Hyundai COO was speaking at the sidelines of the launch of the all-new Hyundai Verna in New Delhi.
The sedan comes in two variants -- the 1.5 Turbo GDi Petrol engine that produces 5,500 revolutions per minute (RPM) and a maximum torque of 253 Nm capable of reaching 0 to 100 km in 8.1 seconds and the 1.5 MPi petrol engine with 6,300 RPM power and a maximum torque of 143.8 Nm.
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The Verna range starts at Rs 10,89,000 going all the way up to Rs 17,37,900.
The all-new Verna comes with 30 standard safety features, including six air bags and electronic stability control. It has seven monotone colour options and two dual-tone colour options for select specifications.
The Verna features Bluelink with over 65 connected car features including home to car.
So far 4,65,000 units of Verna have been sold since its launch in 2006 and Hyundai expects to double the volume with the new model, said Unsoo Kim, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Hyundai Motors India. We have witnessed 8,000 pre-bookings even before announcement of prices, he added.
Disclosure: The reporter was at Delhi at the company's invitation.