South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor will invest close to $5.1bn in India through 2030, signalling a push for hybrid electric vehicle production in India, as the automaker looks to launch eight hybrid and five battery electric vehicle models by 2030.
The company aims to expand from zero hybrid sport utility vehicles (SUVs) today to eight by 2030, with coverage across all of the carmaker's segments, which range from compact and affordable hybrids to larger and premium SUVs, said its chief executive officer Jose Munoz during its investors' day on 15 October.
Hybrids are viewed as critical to the company's plans, Munoz said, adding that hybrid growth is driving a "profit evolution" as battery electric vehicles are currently less profitable than their hybrid counterparts and, in some cases, are loss-making for competitors. But the profitability of battery electric vehicles could match that of the hybrid in the future, he noted.
The conglomerate will add about 250,000 units/yr of capacity at its multi-model facility in India's Pune by 2028, said Munoz. Its expansion in India is behind only to the one that it had planned at its Hyundai Group Metaplant America facility.
Hyundai Motor India also aims to put up more than 600 fast charging stations across its dealerships, strategic locations and highways by 2032, on top of its current 125 DC fast chargers and nearly 950 AC chargers.
It is also targeting to export about 30pc of its production in India and to launch and roll out its virtual autonomous manufacturing system HMGX 3.0 to its India operations, both by 2030.
India's automotive domestic sales are likely to grow to 5.6mn units by 2030, and Hyundai aims to hold a market share of 15pc by that year with its capacity of 1.1mn units/yr.
A flexible battery plant with locally assembled battery packs will be established "starting this year", Munoz added. Hyundai will also be jointly producing lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) prismatic batteries in the country, it said, a focus similarly seen across South Korean battery makers as LFP battery chemistry gains further traction.
