South Korean car maker Hyundai has been able to beat the current market blues, increasing its market share by 3 per cent to 19.4 per cent in July.

In July 2019, Hyundai sold around 39,000 units, of which 9,585 units were of the Venue.

“This has been an eventful year for Hyundai. We have forayed into the sub-compact SUV segment with the launch of India’s first fully connected SUV, Venue. We have also launched a fully electric SUV Kona and will be launching the Grand i10 NIOS on August 20 this year,” Vikas Jain, national sales head of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, said in an emailed interview with The Telegraph.

The company has maintained its sales momentum that grew 1.7 per cent in 2018-19 vis-à-vis 2017-18. It sold 5,45,243 units in the domestic market and exported 1,62,105 units in 2018-19.

Hyundai’s success is largely attributed to its latest SUV, the Venue. The combined sales of its SUVs — Venue, Creta and Tucson — have made it the largest SUV maker in India with a market share of 21 per cent, said Jain.

While Maruti and other OEMs are cutting down production to manage inventories in the face of depressed market sentiments, Hyundai has expanded its production capacity to 7.5 lakh units from 7 lakh units per annum with smart manufacturing processes to meet additional demand.

“Our plant currently is running full capacity and we have no plans to cut down production,” said Jain.

The company remains cautiously optimistic about the market.

“We understand that sometimes a slowdown in the market is a cyclical phenomenon. Because of practical challenges such as volatility in fuel prices, high interest rates and rising insurance premium, some buyers are deferring their purchase decision,” he added.