Hyundai Motor said on Thursday that it plans to export engines to Pakistan by the end of this year or early next year.

"We are planning to export engines in the form of completely knocked down kits to Pakistan. The exports should start by the end of this year itself or early next year," Hyundai Motor India managing diretor J I Kim said on the sidelines of the Elantra launch.

Hyundai already sells the Zip Plus and Zip Drive versions of compact car Santro in Pakistan but it does not market the recent Santro Xing model there.

Of late, many Indian automakers, including Tata Motors, have expressed interest in the Pakistan market, which is largely dominated by foreign carmakers like Toyota.

Though the Pakistan market was relatively small, it made sense to ship CKD engines in that country, Kim said.

Suzuki Motor Corp of Japan, which owns 54.3 per cent of Maruti Udyog, has been in Pakistan since the last couple of years.

After shifting the export base for Santro to India from Korea, Hyundai has been shipping cars to a number of countries and got the distinction of being the first Indian carmaker to enter the markets of North America.

"This year, we will be shipping to 40 countries," Kim said.