Chennai: Hyundai Motor Company has said it will build a second car plant in India. The plant will come up at Irungattukottai, where the company''s wholly owned subsidiary''s plant is located.

With this plant, Hyundai Motor India''s capacity will go up to 4,00,000 units a year from the present 2,50,000 units.

At present, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, a subsidiary of the Korean company, manufactures the Santro, Accent, Elantra, Sonata and the recently-launched Getz at this plant. It also sells the Terracan sports utility vehicle in the country.

The company has not indicated the likely investment in the new plant. It is expected that the new plant will be funded by the parent and through internal accruals from the Indian subsidiary.

The announcement coincides with the visit of Hyundai Motor Company''s chairman, Chung Mong Koo, to Hyundai Motor India''s plant yesterday. The company wants to tap the growing Indian market.

The company had announced its decision to make the Indian plant the hub for making small cars, including cars for the export market. Hyundai Motor India exports the Santro to Europe and Mexico, apart from other markets.

Hyundai Motor India had expanded its capacity from 1,50,000 units to 2,50,000 in the second half of 2004 at an investment of about $250 million. For the calendar year 2004, it sold 2,15,630 cars, which is a 43 per cent jump over the previous year''s sales.