With the rising fuel prices, especially the petrol prices the demand for the diesel driven cars has been rising but that has not been for India’s second largest car maker Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), which has stated that it has put on hold its Rs. 400 crore diesel engine plant, which would have an installed capacity of 1.5 lakh unit per annum, due to sluggish demand.
Well with this move the i10 diesel will surely not make it in 2012. The car with a diesel heart may be launched in 2014-15 when the new i10 on a new platform is expected to be launched.
In December 2010, HMIL Managing Director and CEO Han Woo Park had said the company would invest Rs 400 crore over three years to set up a diesel engine manufacturing plant with an installed capacity of 1.5 lakh unit per annum. “The feasibility study for the diesel engine plant has been completed and we will announce the location in the next few months. The plant is proposed to have an annual installed capacity of 1.5 lakh units,” he had said.
It was reported that the plant would have manufactured three different engines of 1.1 litre, 1.4 litre and 1.6 litre capacities only for the domestic market. The company had planned to utilise the engine from the new plant in its new models and only a few would be used for replacing the existing models. The company at presents imports its diesel engines from Korea for its models such as ‘i20’ and ‘Verna’.
