Hyundai makes Rs 20K cr investment in TN to develop EV ecosystem

CHENNAI: In a major move after the Union Government said it would raise taxes on imported cars and motorbikes including electric vehicles (EVs) as it seeks to boost local manufacturing, the carmaker, through its Indian subsidiary Hyundai Motor India (HMI) Limited on Thursday committed Rs 20,000 crore as long term investment in Tamil Nadu for developing a sustainable Electric Vehicle (EV) ecosystem.

The Korean auto giant HMI will invest Rs 20,000 crore over the period of 10 years (2023-2032) in alternative fuel technologies like hydrogen mobility and planning to increase production volumes to 850,000 units per year and introduce new Electric and ICE vehicle models from its factory in Sriperumbudur.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) exchanged between Unsoo Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Limited and V Vishnu, MD -amp; CEO, Guidance Tamil Nadu in the presence of chief minister MK Stalin, Finance minister Thangam Thennarasu and Industries minister TRB Rajaa.

HMI will also set up a battery pack assembly unit with annual capacity to assemble 178,000 units of batteries and 100 charging stations at key locations in major highways across the state over a period of five years.

HMIL has so far invested over $4 billion in the country.

Its factory at Sriperumbudur near Chennai is the Hyundai Group's first fully integrated production facility and the second-largest facility outside Korea.

In 2022, the company's cumulative sales were at 700,811 units, an increase of 10.3 per cent over 2021 sales.

Total volumes in 2022 included domestic sales of 552,511 units and exports of 148,300 units.

Hyundai earned operating revenue of Rs 47,043 crore for the year ended March 31, 2022 compared with Rs 42,410 crore in 2020-2021 FY.

The group plans to have a total line-up of 31 EV models in response to the growing demand.

At present, HMI is selling the electric car Kona, and an all-electric SUV Ioniq 5 in the premium categories.

As of April, Hyundai has a nearly 15 per cent market share in India's passenger vehicle space, only behind Maruti Suzuki.