Hyundai's India Expansion

author: FutureCar Staff    

Hyundai Motor Company is set to invest INR7bn (US$84m) in India to establish a facility for assembling battery packs for its battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the country. The investment is aimed at reducing the cost of Hyundai's BEVs in India and boosting local demand. The company plans to complete the first phase of the plant in Chennai by 2025, with an initial capacity of 75,000 battery packs per year. This move is part of Hyundai's ambition to increase its share of the BEV market from 2% to 22% by 2030.

Hyundai has set a target to sell 2 million BEVs per year worldwide by 2030 and plans to launch 17 new models, including 11 Hyundais and six Genesis, to achieve this goal. The demand for BEVs in India is growing rapidly, with sales estimated to have quadrupled to 48,000 units in 2022. Major cities like Delhi, which are grappling with high levels of air pollution, are also setting ambitious targets for BEV sales.

In addition to the investment in battery pack assembly, Hyundai has two vehicle assembly plants in India near Chennai. These plants produced a total of 644,000 vehicles in the first nine months of 2023, with 510,000 vehicles sold locally and 134,000 exported. The plants are currently operating at full capacity. Hyundai recently acquired General Motors' unused vehicle manufacturing plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra, which will increase its annual production capacity to 1 million units.

Hyundai's plans for India also include investing US$2.5bn by the end of the decade to expand capacity at its existing sites and establish a BEV charging network. With these investments, Hyundai aims to strengthen its presence in the Indian market and capitalize on the growing demand for electric vehicles.

FutureCar Staff