Short : Hyundai is strengthening its presence as a ‘home brand’ in India by heavily investing in its Chennai hub and EV supply chain. The company plans to localize production, expand electric vehicle offerings, and develop a robust supply chain to meet growing demand for EVs.
Detail : Now that Hyundai has also made it to Dalal Street with the country’s largest IPO, the South Korean-origin company wants to be called a “home brand” in India too.
South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company made its India entry with its subsidiary Hyundai Motor India in 1996. The firm’s first Santro hit the Indian roads in 1998. Over the past 26 years, Indian consumers have shown much love to the brand, whether it is the Santro, i10, i20, Verna or the Creta.
Now that Hyundai has also made it to Dalal Street with the country’s largest IPO, the South Korean-origin company wants to be called a “home brand” in India too.
“We want to be a home brand by implementing some India credit marketing activities and various CSR initiatives. We are also focusing on the customer first service,” Unsoo Kim, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Hyundai Motor India, told in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of its market debut.
Kim said the firm is projecting India as a production hub for emerging markets, to which Hyundai Global CEO Jaehoon Chang added that he believes India should be an important production hub as the company builds capacity.
“We are positioning Chennai as a production hub for the emerging market. We have a very healthy and balanced domestic and export mix, which gives us not only profit but also a natural hedge against some marketplace; we have a strong long-term strategy,” the managing director said.
Global CEO Chang added that India will also play a key role for the company in terms of the products or capacity it plans to build. “To enable this, we also need to invest more and focus on the R&D capability. Thus, we are setting up the production capacity increase and also R&D reinforcement. Those are the two main pillars that can ensure growth.”
MD Kim added that in terms of electrification, Hyundai plans to launch many EV models, including the Creta EV, for this financial year. “We have localised our full EV supply chain and are investing in infrastructures. We are also focusing on exports.”
Chang, meanwhile, also thanked the Indian government for its aspiration for decarbonisation and push for EVs. This is another growth area that Hyundai aims to focus on, alongside the steady government policy with consistency and investment in infrastructure, Chang added.
The Hyundai India CEO also said localisation will be an important factor in positioning the company’s EVs and that “the firm is working very intensely to build our charging infrastructure”.
