During a post-listing media interaction, Hyundai Motor India also sounded hopeful of enhancing its market share in the electric vehicle space, where it stands as a marginal player currently.
“Our current capacity is 8.24-lakh units per annum. With the acquisition of the Talegaon plant, 2,50,000 units will be added to our capacity, which will come in two phases — 1.70 lakh units next year and 80,000 units by 2028. So, this is basically almost a 30 per cent capacity addition. So, we believe that it will give us more headroom both in domestic as well as an export market,” said Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer at Hyundai Motor India.
The cumulative capacity will reach almost 1.1 million units after expansion.
He said that the company has been able to grow faster than the industry, and the objective will always be to really beat the industry growth and then pursue the premiumisation strategy so that you can have a balance between growth, profitability and market share.
“So, I think, this is how we intend to continue. (Also) there is going to be one big change, which is going to happen, and that is electrification. If you see, currently, our market share is basically in the ICE space. In the next quarter, we are going to launch the Creta electric, which is a very strong brand, so this will really give us a lot of global market share in the EV space as well,” he said. This will be followed by three more models and this is also being done with higher supply chain localisation, including battery packs, LFP cells, power, electronics, among others, and also the charging infrastructure. “As we speak, the battery packs are being localised, which will help us to position our EVs well. Going forward, LFP cell manufacturing with the local Indian partner and other localisations will also help. Also, I think it is a very comprehensive strategy, a well-thought-out strategy and also a top-down strategy. So, we believe that this is the right time to join (the EV space). And now, we feel we can play a very prominent role in electrification,” he said.
Garg said the contribution of the SUV is going up for the company, with SUV share already reaching 67-68 per cent this year from 60 per cent in 2023.
In the EV space, the company was so far present in the niche segment, but with the Creta EV, there will be an opportunity to increase the market share.
“We have always been ahead of the curve in terms of launching products. So, we believe that going forward as well, we will continue to see where the opportunities are and launch products, whether it is a different power range or body types,” Garg noted.