Hyundai i10 Diesel Car Coming to India by 2010

Encouraged by the great response received for the petrol version of i10, Hyundai is moving a step ahead with the launch of a diesel variant Hyundai i10; reported CNBC-TV 18. Hyundai i10 diesel will be fitted with a 1.1 L CRDi engine which is likely to offer improved fuel efficiency and improved drivability due to the engine's higher torque output as compared to the petrol version.

Hyundai i10 Diesel Car IndiaThe launch will qualify the company for small car excise norms and each car's transmission will be constructed in the Chennai plant. The engine would be sourced from its parent company in South Korea. The official company spokesperson declined to comment on the details.

Hyundai has a market share slightly more than 20% in the passenger cars segment in India and is likely to improve it to 25% by 2012. In a bid to expand the existing portfolio it is looking at launching new products. It was earlier reported that Hyundai Motor India Ltd would set up its existing car manufacturing plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

'Live Mint' newspaper, quoted an anonymous source and claimed that the Indian arm of the Korean automaker is likely to invest at least Rs. 500 crore to construct a factory that would have an installed capacity to manufacture around 100,000 engines. This complied with India's second largest passenger carmaker's aim to manufacture diesel variants of its existing models like Hyundai i10 and Hyundai i20 in the country and save the car's cost by around 15-20%.

At present, the Indian arm of the Korean automaker has a petrol engine plant which makes Kappa and Gamma engine strapped onto models like the Hyundai i10 city (Kappa version) car and Hyundai i20 super-hatch. The engine was developed at a cost of over US$ 400 million.

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By: Amrith K.A.