By 2025, Hyundai and Kia to jointly produce 1.5 million vehicles in India
Apr 25, 2024
Gurugram, Haryana [India] April 25 : Hyundai Motor India will enhance its production capabilities to one million units by 2025. Combined with Kia India, Hyundai Motor Group will be able to annually produce 1.5 million units in India by 2025.
Hyundai will celebrate its 30th anniversary in India in 2026. The Hyundai Motor Group will expand its EV line up too in India and create an EV ecosystem to accelerate customer uptake and expand charging infrastructure. The company will also strengthen its SUV sales leadership.
Hyundai's Pune plant will be operational by the second half of 2025. The production facility was acquired from GM last year. Hyundai Motor is upgrading the facility using smart manufacturing technology and system, to create a production hub capable of building more than 200,000 units annually
With hiked production capability, Chennai plant now has a production capacity of 824,000 units. Combined with Pune plant Hyundai will be able to produce over one million units by 2025.
Kia India's yearly production capacity will also be expanded to 431,000 units within the first half of this year. Combined together, Hyundai Motor Group will have the ability to produce approximately 1.5 million units annually in India.
Hyundai Motor Group also plans to strengthen its EV leadership in the Indian EV market through its electrification strategy.
Hyundai plans to unveil its first locally produced EV in India next year and proactively respond to the growth of the Indian EV market. Hyundai's first electric SUV mass production will start by end of 2024 from its Chennai plant. The company plans to launch five new EV models and expand EV charging stations to 485 by 2030.
Kia India will start producing its first local EV model in 2025, and new models will be launched as the EV industry grows. Kia also has plans to focus on building EV charging infrastructure in India.
Hyundai and Kia recently have recently signed an MoU with Exide Energy for local production of batteries which will be dedicated Indian EV models. The company plans to lower cost of EVs by localising the production of EV batteries.
Hyundai India plans were disclosed in a town Hall meeting at Gurugram, by Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung.
Speaking about the company's electrification strategy, Executive Chair Chung said, "We will develop EVs tailored to the Indian market and expand EV infrastructure in the region. We will lead the next generation of mobility in India, playing a key role in electrification, and we will continue to elevate Hyundai as a premium brand."
Hyundai debuted in Indian market in 1996 and since then the company has grown manifold. In 2004, it crossed the benchmark of selling 5 lakh units, the company reached one million units by 2007 and five million units by 2017 and recorded a cumulative sale of 8.24 million units by end of 2023.
After its first sale in 2019, Kia India also grew into a major brand in SUV segment and sells over 2 lakh units annually. Hyundai Motor group aims to achieve sales of 8.9 lakh units in 2024 which will be about 3.9 percent up from the sales of 2023.