Hyundai Motor chief underscores India expansion in EV push

No. 2 carmaker in India looks to lead local EV transformation

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun (right) visits the company's technical center in India on Monday. (Hyundai Motor Group)

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun has emphasized the importance of India as a foothold for future mobility as the South Korean automaker looks to lead the country’s fast-growing electric vehicle market.

According to the Korean automaker Tuesday, the Hyundai Motor chief visited Hyundai Motor Company’s technical center and manufacturing site in India from Monday to Tuesday to discuss mid to long-term growth strategies with local employees.

Hyundai Motor said Chung closely checked up on the local EV trends at the company’s technical center Monday, showing the company’s preparation to take the next step to become a top-tier brand amid fierce competition over vehicle automation in India.

The automaker said the India Technical Center will expand its role as a linchpin of future mobility research in the technological sectors of automation, autonomous driving and voice recognition of Hindi. To that end, the research site has been pushing for building new testing facilities since last year.

India was the third biggest auto market as the country saw 4.76 million new units sold in last year alone, behind China and the United States. India’s auto market is expected to reach 5 million in 2030. Sports utility vehicles are projected to take up 48 percent of them while EVs are forecast to account for 1 million.

Following Hyundai Motor Company’s release of Exter, a small SUV specifically developed for the Indian market, in July, the automaker said it plans to have five EV models in the local market through 2032. Hyundai Motor added it will expand the number of EV charging sites to 439 in 2027.

Kia, Hyundai Motor Company’s sister firm, will begin the production of a new EV, which will be optimized for the Indian market, in 2025 with plans to launch various EV models in the future.

Hyundai Motor Group sold 807,067 cars in the Indian market last year to become the second largest automaker there. The Korean auto giant has sold 502,821 units as of July this year, up 8.8 percent on year. The company said it will continue to expand the local production.

Chung on Tuesday met with Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India where Hyundai Motor’s local manufacturing facilities are located, to discuss the automaker’s future plans in the region.

Hyundai Motor and the state of Tamil Nadu signed a business partnership in May to invest about 3.2 trillion won ($2.4 billion) over the next 10 years to set up an EV ecosystem by building a new EV battery pack assembly plant, expanding the EV lineup and installing 100 high-speed EV chargers, and modernizing manufacturing facilities.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun (right) and Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, chief minister of Tamil Nadu, hold a meeting to discuss Hyundai Motor's business cooperation in India and India's automobile industry growth at the Indian state's government office on Tuesday. (Hyundai Motor Group)

By Kan Hyeong-woo(hwkan@heraldcorp.com)