India has the potential to be the biggest market for South Korean Automaker Hyundai globally in the near future as the demand for automobiles is projected to stay strong, Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) MD and CEO, Unsoo Kim, said on Friday.
Notably, HMIL contributed to 18.6 per cent of the auto major’s global volumes, in the January to September period. The company further expects to cross the 20 per cent mark in the next 2 to 3 years, reported PTI. The automaker’s India business CEO Kim said, “We are currently number three after the US and Korea and we aim to be number one in the near future.”
HMIL’s share of Hyundai's global sales was 15.6 per cent in 2019. Commenting on the domestic market, the company said that it estimates to complete the current year with 6 lakh units, which will mark the highest-ever annual sales volume in the nation till now, bypassing the previous record of 5.5 lakh units last year. The CEO also informed that the company is aiming at closing 2023 with a record-high overall annual sales of 7.6 lakh units, against the previous high of 7.1 lakh units last year.
Elaborating on the firm’s sales outlook for the coming year, Kim stated that the automaker remained optimistic about a good performance in spite of several ongoing geopolitical issues, like the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza conflicts.
The CEO added that the company is progressing towards increasing its combined annual production capacity to touch 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 optimisation at our Sriperumbudur plant and capacity addition through our upcoming Talegaon plant, where production is scheduled to commence from 2025,” Kim noted.
The executive stated that India is going towards ‘an EV revolution’ and the firm intends to invest Rs 20,000 crore for setting up an EV ecosystem in the country. Notably, he informed that the firm is establishing an EV battery manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu with a capacity of 50,000 units per annum, which can be later expanded to 1.2 lakh units annually over the next 3 to 4 years.
Kim said, “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. We have already augmented charging infrastructure at dealerships. Most importantly, the company is also developing a hub for next generation EV batteries through the upcoming battery pack assembly facility in Tamil Nadu.”
The company’s COO Tarun Garg added that SUVs contributed a major share to HMIL’s sales volume in India. He said, “We are going to end the year with the SUV range accounting for 60 per cent of the sales. The industry percentage would probably be around 50 per cent.”
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