Hyundai brings in all new Verna; seeks to regain market share

New Delhi, August 22

South Korean automaker Hyundai on Tuesday launched all-new version of Verna in India with introductory price starting at Rs 7.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) as it seeks to regain lost market share in mid-sized sedan segment.

The fifth generation Verna will compete with the likes of Honda City and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz.

The petrol variants of the Verna are priced between Rs 7.99-12.23 lakh, while the diesel trims are tagged between Rs 9.19-12.61 lakh.

Honda City petrol on the other hand is priced between Rs 8.46 lakh and Rs 13.37 lakh, while its diesel variants are priced between Rs 10.68 lakh and Rs 13.43 lakh.

Maruti Ciaz petrol is priced between Rs 7.65 lakh and Rs 10.41 lakh, while diesel variants are tagged between Rs 9.42 lakh and Rs 11.55 lakh (all prices ex-showroom).

"We are aiming for the leadership position in the segment. With the kind of features the new Verna has, we are confident of achieving it," Hyundai Motor India MD & CEO YK Koo told reporters here.

The company has set a target of selling 4,000 to 5,000 units a month for the model, he added.

"In the last 17 days, we have received 45,000 enquiries and we expect at least a conversion of 20 per cent of these into actual sales," Koo said.

As competition brought in full model changes of their models like City, sales of Verna had dropped to around 700 units a month from a peak of around 49,000 a year in period between 2011 and 2013, he added.

Hyundai said the introductory prices will be applicable for first 20,000 customers only.

"We will take a price increase after 20,000 units," HMIL Director Sales & Marketing Rakesh Srivastava said.

The latest Verna comes with 1.6 litre petrol and diesel engines mated with both manual and automatic transmissions.

The model is based on a newly developed K2 platform and has been developed with an investment of Rs 1,040 crore.

Overall, Hyundai has sold 3.17 lakh units Verna in India since the introduction of the model in 2006. Globally, around 88 lakh units of the sedan have been sold.

The new Verna comes with various features like sunroof, rear curtain, standard dual airbags and ABS, eco coating for AC vents and rear parking sensors.

When asked about increasing the production capacity, Koo said with flexibility in manufacturing the company would be able to pull on till around 2020.

"So there is no plan for a new factory right now. After 2020 we will look into it," he added. — PTI