Our focus has been on improving the customers’ profitability.

ES LEE
Managing Director,
Hyundai Construction ,
Equipment India.

Hyundai is ready with all the technological know how about offering latest technology and global products in India.

The state of the art manufacturing facility of Hyundai at Pune, Maharashtra with zero-tolerance quality control system and innovative engineering to offer wide range of construction equipment to satisfy customer’s demand of across India. Hyundai achieved a major milestone within a quick time frame by rolling out 10,000th excavator from its plant in April-15 and achieved No. 2 position among the excavators’ suppliers in India in 2016. ES LEE, Managing Director, Hyundai Construction Equipment India shares his views with
Equipment Times.

What has been your performance in the Indian market so far?
After consistent decline of about three years from 2011, CE industry started showing shoots of growth in 2015 with a nominal growth. Excavator industry in 2015 grew by around 8%, the industry grew by around 45% in 2016 over 2015 and the growth in 2017 till now is around 20% over the same period in 2016. Hyundai’s growth has been faster than the industry growth and we managed to achieve No.2 position among excavator suppliers in India.

We have supplied more than 14,000 made in India units to the market since our 1st machine roll out in November, 2008. Hyundai played a very constructive role in expanding the market by offering global products and service levels at affordable price to the customer. Our focus has been on improving the customer’s profitability by offering right product, training to operator and site engineers and responsive customer support through our dealers. We are glad to inform that our made in India products are not only being appreciated by domestic customers but are gaining popularity in other countries too. We are currently supplying these products to more than 15 countries.

Could you spell out your company’s philosophy of innovation?
Our philosophy is to offer premium quality and technologically advanced products to customers and work towards improving their experience at every interaction. Launch of Smart series of machines in India was one such initiative where in-depth understanding of machine usage pattern, key requirements of various applications and customer needs were addressed by adding product features for improving operator comfort, fuel efficiency and structure durability.

Our remote management system Hi-Mate is another technological innovation where tracking of key performance parameters can be done at various levels with the help of a mobile app. Customers can also upload the failure photographs and track the performance of their machine/ group of machines on the touch of a button.
We would also be offering extended maintenance intervals for hydraulic filters and oils on our Smart machines which would improve the effective availability of machines and reduce the maintenance cost to the customers.

What has been the shift in buying patterns from the end-user segments?
Buying pattern in India is now shifting from product buying to solution buying. This is in line with the shift in developed economies. The shift would be more visible in next few months when the GST benefits become more evident and regulatory framework for CE machines is in place. Hyundai is ready with all the technological know how about offering latest technology and global products in India. Launch of R480-LC-9S and R140W-9S during Excon is a well thought action to align Indian product line with global standards.

Please elaborate on the growth trajectory of your R&D?
Till now, we were greatly dependent on Korea R&D facility for our requirements of new products or customization of products for new applications, Management has recently decided to expand the R&D facility in Pune. The expanded facility in Pune would not only support India operation but also the operations in other emerging economies.

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