Hyundai gets Ashok Jha on board ahead of its i10 launch

Jha comes on board at Hyundai as the company aims to make India a hub for small cars, and his familiarity with the functioning of the government is believed to be among the factors that weighed in his favour.

Prior to his appointment, the position at Hyundai Motor had been vacant since the departure of B V R Subbu from the company a year and a half back.

Hyundai''s top management needs a presence in Delhi to liaison with the government, in the form of a company president, as managing director H S Lheem is based in Chennai.

Jha joins Hyundai just when Hyundai is about to announce the launch of its third compact car in India, the ''i10''.

The i10 will be manufactured only in India, and exported worldwide to almost 70 destinations, where Hyundai has a presence.

In terms of market positioning, the i10 is expected to be slotted between Hyundai''s bread-and-butter model Santro, and the recently revamped Getz.