Hyundai and Kia Set to Roll Out 'Made in India' Electric Cars by Next Year
Hyundai Motor Group, headquartered in Seoul, announced its intention to introduce its inaugural electric car 'Made in India' from its Sriperumbudur facility by 2025. The company plans to expand its electric vehicle lineup by introducing five additional models by 2030, anticipating growth in the Indian electric vehicle market. Furthermore, Hyundai Motor India and Kia India, set to commence electric vehicle production next year, aim to collectively increase their annual production capacity to 1.5 million vehicle units by 2025.
These significant announcements were made by HMG during the visit of its Executive Chair, Euisun Chung, to assess the group's mid-to-long-term future mobility strategies in India. Additionally, the first overseas town hall meeting with the Executive Chair outside of South Korea was conducted, engaging Hyundai Motor India employees.
The company announced that Hyundai Motor India will commence operations at its Pune plant, acquired from General Motors last year, in the latter half of 2025. Currently, the facility is undergoing enhancements to transform it into a production hub capable of manufacturing over 200,000 units annually, leveraging smart manufacturing technology and systems.
“With the addition of the Chennai plant’s production capacity of 824,000 units, Hyundai Motor will have an annual production capacity of over one million units when combined with the Pune plant. Kia India's yearly production capacity will also be expanded to 431,000 units within the first half of this year”, the company said in a statement.
Together, Hyundai Motor Group will have the capacity to manufacture around 1.5 million units annually in India. While Hyundai's facility is situated in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, Kia operates a sizable manufacturing plant in the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Regarding its electric vehicle (EV) initiatives, the company announced that Hyundai Motor India (HMI) will introduce its inaugural locally produced EV in India next year and intends to expand its EV lineup to encompass five models by 2030. Additionally, HMI plans to increase the number of EV charging stations to 485 by 2030.
“Kia India will also start production of its local EV model in 2025 and plans to further expand its EV models. The company will also focus on building EV charging infrastructure”, the company said, adding they recently signed a MoU with Exide Energy Solutions Ltd for local production of batteries for dedicated Indian EV models.
Executive Chair Chung emphasized the strategic importance of the Indian region saying India is among the fastest-growing economies globally, and as this growth continues the strategic importance of Hyundai Motor India will only increase. “By leveraging our strong reputation and competitive quality in India, we aim to expand exports to neighboring countries, making India the global export hub to boost our regional market competitiveness”, he said.