(Seoul, Korea) Hyundai Motor Co., which operates India´s second-largest automobile maker, signed a five-year technical agreement with Caparo India plc today in Chennai to further cement its leading position in India by entering the country´s rapidly-growing luxury bus market.

According to the CKD agreement with auto parts maker Caparo India, which is part of the London-based Caparo Group, Hyundai Motor will provide parts and production technology for the buses, while Caparo India will build a 1,500 units-a-year factory near Hyundai Motor India´s current plant to locally manufacture and sell the vehicles. The CKD plant may begin production by early 2009, initially producing 350 units. According to the agreement, the plant will produce a total of about 5,100 buses by 2013.

India´s commercial vehicle market stood at 290,000 units in 2007, including 5,000 luxury buses. This figure is expected to double in the next two years, reaching 10,000 units by 2010 as rapid economic development and demand for luxury transportation increases in India.

"Long-distance travelling and demand for luxury buses in tourism are continuing to increase as India builds new highways and as a new middle-class emerges," a Hyundai official said. "Hyundai, with its high-performance and high-quality Aero bus, will create a reverberation in the Indian commercial vehicle market, which has been dominated by local makers such as Tata and Ashok Leyland."

On top of its best-selling models in India such as Santro and the i10, Hyundai Motor will now enter the country´s commercial vehicle market to boost market presence and strengthen its brand name.

Mr. Choi Han-Young, President of Hyundai Motor´s commercial vehicle division, and Caparo India´s President Mr. Sunil Pahilajani, and about 80 other officials attended the signing ceremony.

Hyundai will continue to aim for commercial vehicle sales of 100,000 units by 2010, entering the Top 10.

Hyundai currently has commercial vehicle CKD plants in six countries, including China, Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Iran.