Hyundai aims to make India its biggest market globally

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) MD and CEO Unsoo Kim has said that India can become the biggest market for South Korean auto major Hyundai globally in the near future. The company expects to achieve this goal by expanding its production capacity and increasing its focus on electric vehicles (EVs).

Hyundai's growth in India

HMIL currently accounts for 18.6 percent of the South Korean automaker's global volumes in the January-September period. It expects to breach the 20 percent mark in the next 2-3 years. It is currently in the third position after the US and South Korean markets.

HMIL's contribution to Hyundai global sales stood at 15.6 percent in 2019. The company sold over 1,000 units of Ioniq 5 in the country so far.

Hyundai's plans for India

The company is working towards enhancing its cumulative annual production capacity to 10 lakh units from the current capacity of 8.2 lakh units. The company is actively working towards achieving its goal of a cumulative yearly production capacity of 1 million units. We plan on achieving this through capacity optimization at our Sriperumbudur plant and capacity addition through our upcoming Talegaon plant, where production is scheduled to commence from 2025, he said.

The company is also looking at ending 2023 with its highest-ever total annual sales of about 7.6 lakh units, up from the previous best of 7.1 lakh units recorded last year.

Hyundai's focus on EVs

India is moving towards an EV revolution and the company plans on investing Rs 20,000 crore strategically towards building an EV ecosystem in the country. The company is setting up an EV battery manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu with an initial capacity of 50,000 units per annum, which can be scaled up to 1.2 lakh units per year over a period of 3-4 years.

In line with the Government of India's push towards electrification, Hyundai is developing a grid of 100-plus fast EV-chargers across Tamil Nadu, adding to the existing grid of such chargers established at strategic locations along the Indian highway network.

Hyundai is a major player in the Indian automobile market and has been consistently growing its market share. The company's focus on EVs and its plans to expand its production capacity are likely to help it achieve its goal of becoming the biggest market for Hyundai globally in the near future.