Watch: SRK unveils environment friendly car

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan unveiled Hyundai's environment friendly car at the ongoing Auto Expo in Delhi.

Shah Rukh launches electric version of Hyundai's i10

Bollywood icon Shahrukh Khan, the brand ambassador of car maker Hyundai Motors, Wednesday unveiled the electric version of the
company's i10 model at Pragati Maidan, the venue of the 10th Auto Expo here.

"I was very nostalgic coming to Pragati Maidan. My father used to have a stall here 30 years ago," Khan said at the event, where he also unveiled two other Hyundai models — Genesis Coupe and the i-mode.

Hyundai's marketing and sales director Arvind Saxena said i10's "immense popularity" had inspired his company to come out with an electric version.

"These cars will ensure zero-carbon emissions and help address the concerns of environmentalists," Saxena said, but did not provide any details about the launch of the new model, called the i10 Electric.

The i10 Electric offers dual recharging cycles and would take around five hours to be fully charged, which will enable the car to run for 160 km.

Hyundai sells about 12,000 i10 units a month, compared to 7,000 units of Santro, its flagship model. Incidentally, i10 is priced higher than the Santro.

The company is now planning to expand its network, Saxena said, adding: "We have today spread over 260 cities, and have 286 dealers and 80 sales branches. We plan to expand to 320 cities and 1,340 branches this year."

Hyundai, SRK rewrite brand-celebrity script

There is nothing new about Bollywood ambassadors endorsing car and bikes. Everyone from Aamir Khan to Abhishek Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan to Hrithik Roshan feature in some automobile endorsement or the other. But car maker Hyundai is rewriting the usual brand-celeb script with Shah Rukh Khan.

Khan is actually involved in the scripting, advertising and storyboard brainstorming for the i10 brand which he represents. His company Red Chillies is also making the new i10 commercial which will debut for the Diwali season starting October 8.

Speaking to ET Now , Shah Rukh Khan said: “Many of the companies I represent take feedback from me. I use these products...like the Hyundai cars...so I can give a creative suggestion. In most of the scripting and advertising I do take a very active call.”

The latest commercial for the i10 also included substantial inputs from the King Khan. “Normally for a commercial, the story and script is developed and decided by Hyundai and its advertising agency – Innocean ,” said the Hyundai spokesperson . “Once the story board is decided it is shared with SRK and at times he gives his inputs and suggestions about the production or dialogues so that it adds value to the entire script or story. For this particular ad also the same procedure was followed.”

The new i10 spot featuring SRK will highlight a fresh positioning twist for the car as a chic, urbane, stylish, reliable and desirable product . That positioning has also necessitated a tweak in the branding for Hyundai’s flagship Santro. “We are now positioning the Santro as a more family-oriented mass car which has its advantages like mileage, cost of ownership and trust of over 15 lakh customers,” says the Hyundai executive. Also, it is targeted towards tier 2 and tier 3 towns while the i10 is positioned as the most desirable compact car with primary target being young working couples; small nuclear families and more for urban use.