Hyundai Motor’s $3.34 bn India IPO set for October 22

Hyundai Motor’s manufacturing plant in India. (Hyundai Motor YouTube)

Hyundai Motor is preparing to launch a $3.34 billion initial public offering (IPO) for its Indian subsidiary on October 22nd, 2024. The company will also begin operations at its new plant in the United States’ Georgia by the end of the month while the South Korean brand doubled its year-over-year sales in Singapore. These developments underscore the growing visibility of Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun’s ambitious global market expansion strategy.

According to Bloomberg on Sunday, Hyundai’s India subsidiary is valued at about $19 billion. The IPO will offer 17.5 percent of its shares to raise the $3.3 billion and if completed, would be the largest IPO in India’s stock market history. The funds raised will primarily be reinvested into the Indian market, where Hyundai plans to expand its lineup to include five new electric vehicle (EV) models by 2030, adding to the five strategic models that are currently available. Hyundai is the second-largest automaker in India by market share, behind only Maruti Suzuki.

The IPO comes right after Hyundai topped 100 million in global vehicle sales and will serve as a launchpad for the company’s next phase of international growth.

Beyond India, Hyundai has been pursuing several initiatives to strengthen its global market presence. The company announced a strategic partnership with Waymo, the autonomous driving division of Google, on October 4th, 2024, whereby Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 electric vehicles will be used in Waymo’s autonomous robotaxi service. Waymo had originally planned to source vehicles from China’s Zeekr, but recent U.S. Department of Commerce regulations restricting the use of Chinese connected car components led the company to shift its focus to Hyundai.

In addition to its efforts in autonomous driving, Hyundai continues to invest in hydrogen fuel cell technology., Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding with General Motors (GM) on September 12th to explore collaboration on hydrogen fuel cell development. Hyundai will supply GM with its in-house developed fuel cell stacks, which are key components in hydrogen fuel cell systems. If this partnership progresses, Hyundai will become the first global automaker to supply fuel cell systems to a fellow major automaker.

Meanwhile, Hyundai’s new plant in Georgia, known as Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), is expected to begin operations by the end of October 2024 and the first model to be produced at the facility will be the IONIQ 5. With the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) providing up to $7,500 in tax credits for electric vehicles made in the country, the Georgia plant is poised to strengthen Hyundai’s competitiveness in the American EV market, where it currently holds the second-largest market share behind Tesla.

Hyundai is also making inroads into Southeast Asia, a market that has traditionally been dominated by Japanese automakers. In Singapore, Hyundai and Kia sold 1,557 vehicles in the first half of 2024, up 106 percent compared to the same period during the previous year, and Hyundai alone saw its sales rise by 182.6 percent year-over-year. This growth comes after Hyundai established the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) in November 2022, which has been producing IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 models.

Meanwhile, the company is focusing on strengthening hydrogen partnerships in Europe, where environmental regulations are rapidly tightening. It signed an MOU with Škoda Electric, a subsidiary of the Czech automaker Škoda which is part of the Volkswagen Group, on September 20th, 2024, with the partnership’s aim to collaborate on hydrogen fuel cell technology and systems. Škoda holds an 18.49 percent market share in Central Europe, and this cooperation is expected to help Hyundai expand its presence in the region’s growing hydrogen market.