Hyundai Motor chief visits India, Turkey over Chuseok holiday

 The chairman of South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group is on a trip to India and Turkey over the five-day Chuseok holiday to check production and sales of the carmaker's "strategic" mini vehicles.

Chung Mong-koo's trip to India is his first since 2010, and his third foreign inspection tour this year, after visits to Europe and the United States.

The tour of the Chennai plant comes as automotive think tanks like the Korea Automotive Research Institute predicted car sales on the subcontinent will rise 2.7 percent on-year to 2.53 million units. The plant has the capability to build upwards of 600,000 cars annually for both the Indian and overseas markets.

"With the new administration that took office in May pledging to maintain the low consumption tax stance until the end of the year, car sales have grown for four straight months vis-a-vis 2013," Hyundai said

In the first seven months of 2014, Hyundai Motor's sales in India stood at 236,655 units, up 6 percent from 223,232 units a year earlier, data provided by the carmaker in August showed. For all of 2013, Hyundai Motor sold 380,002 cars on the subcontinent, making it its third-largest single overseas market following China and the United States.

Chung is to hold meetings with top executives so he can laud them for their dedication and push them to further expand the carmaker's footprint in the market. He will then tour production facilities that churn out such vehicles as the Santro, EON, i10 and i20. The company recently unveiled its all-new i20 Elite supermini for the first time ever in New Dehli.

The chairman of the world's fifth largest automotive conglomerate will then be visiting Turkey's Izmit plant, which has become one of its main bases of production of small cars sold in Europe.

The visit marks the first time in seven years that Chung has been to Hyundai's factory in Turkey.

The plant, which can produce some 200,000 cars per year, makes the i10 and i20 cars, and will start producing the completely redone i20 starting from October. (Yonhap)