Hyundai Motor India is looking to capitalise on rural growth opportunities as demand for aspirational products such as sports utility vehicles and feature-rich models rises, said, Chief Operating Officer of the company, Tarun Garg.
With more sales outlets and initiatives such as the deployment of mobile service vans, the country’s second-largest automaker hopes to increase its presence in smaller towns and rural areas.
The automaker’s rural sales outlets have already surpassed 600, and it has increased its manpower in such areas to over 5,000 people. Last year, Hyundai’s rural sales surpassed the one lakh mark.
“Rural areas now account for nearly 18 per cent of our sales. It was once around 16.5 per cent. So we’ve made progress there. Last year, we reached 100,000 retails for the first time. In addition, we now have 100 mobile service vans in rural areas,” Garg told a news agency.
With information about various products now readily available via cell phones and improvements in road infrastructure, he claims that demand for products that are up in the value chain has increased in the rural markets.
“Because so many people now use data and mobile phones, access to information is also very high,” the Hyundai official said.
Another change is that previously, rural markets preferred smaller cars, but now there is a high demand for products such as the Creta and Venue, he noted. He claims that most rural customers now have the same expectations as urban customers.
He added that the divide between urban and rural areas will continue to blur in the future. Garg responded, “Absolutely,” when asked if the company plans to expand its presence in rural markets with additional sales outlets. The company currently has approximately 1,400 showrooms across the country, with approximately 600 outlets in rural areas.
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