Hyundai Motors will begin the export of its entry level car Hyundai Eon in a month’s time to South Asian countries and Africa. India will be the export base for Hyundai’s small car Eon. According to the sales figure, Hyundai India is the largest car exporter of India, the company was exporting almost half of its production to other countries a few years ago. However due to the economic slowdown the demand slumped sharply in Europe followed by the debt crisis which led to Hyundai look out for new markets.

Hyundai’s cheapest car in India, Hyundai Eon hatchback comes with a starting price tag of Rs 2.74 lakh (ex-showroom price). The entry level car will help Hyundai Motors to ramp up their sales in Africa and South Asia as these markets are equally price receptive as Indian car market. Arvind Saxena director of sales and marketing Hyundai Motors India, quoted as saying that the company is satisfied with the response Eon has received in India. Ever since the launch Eon in India, it has been clocking around 11,000-12,000 unit sales in India. The company is eyeing to perform equally well in exports too. However he did not mention as to how many Eon cars will be exported.

For Hyundai India is and will remain the hub for small car exports. Hyundai cars being exported from India to other countries include hatchbacks like Hyundai Santro, Hyundai i10, Hyundai i20 and sedan Hyundai Accent. These Hyundai cars are exported to a total of 115 countries across the globe. Eon however would not be able to completely retrieve the falling overseas sales. The company is expecting the export sales to drop nearly 10% in 2012 from 242,330 units in 2011 to 220,000 units this year.

The demand in European markets remains to be bleak. Hyundai India expects to sell around 410,000 units in 2012, 10% more than what it sold last year. Hyundai has a facility located in Chennai in India where cars like Hyundai Eon, Hyundai Santro, Hyundai i10, Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Sonata and Hyundai Verna are manufactured. The plant has a capacity of producing 670,000 units every year.