New Delhi: With Hyundai Motor India Ltd. expecting its second plant expected to go into operation soon, the company is now looking to speedily ramp up its dealer network to push sales for the increased production.

HMIL reportedly had 167 dealers in January 2007, and plans to expand its network to 250 by December.

New dealerships are likely to follow the proven format, with sales, services and spares facilities housed together.

The company has been witnessing rather flat sales over the past few months, though it has a healthy stable of cars, which include the Getz, the Santro, and the Verna.

The lacklustre sales are reportedly attributed by the company to production capacity constraints, as a result of which domestic sales suffered, and even export orders saw some backlogs.

To reverse this trend, the company has worked at doubling its production capacity through the second plant, which is scheduled to go into operation soon, and plans to reach out to customers via its enhanced dealership network to facilitate sales and service.

The new plant is likely to be commissioned at Sriperumbudur by year end. It is adjacent to existing facilities, and will double production capacity to 600,000 units from the current 300,000. The new plant will help Hyundai better meet customer demands. HMIL plans to export 40 per cent of its total production to Latin America, Europe and West Asia.