Hyundai plans to roll out EV from Chennai plant

South Korean auto major Hyundai plans to roll out electric vehicles from its plant in India, which is set to become one of its global regional headquarters with more responsibility for local long-term planning, a senior company official said to PTI.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), which has sold 8 million vehicles cumulatively in the country in 20 years of operations, is also targeting to cross the 10 million milestones in the first quarter of 2021. 

With plans to bring eight new products between 2018 and 2020, HMIL is also increasing its annual production capacity to 7.5 lakh units from January next year from 7 lakhs at present. 

“An electric SUV is among the eight products planned to be launched here between this year and 2020. It is expected in the second half of 2019. Initially. we will import it as completely knocked down unit,” HMIL Managing Director and CEO Y K Koo told PTI. 

Going forward, depending on the market response and government support for electric vehicles, he said.  HMIL will launch the electric SUV in 15 cities in India though pricing and target volume are still being finalized. 

Reiterating that Hyundai has identified EV as the key technology for the future in India, he said the company is not looking at bringing hybrid vehicles in the country.

Koo said the government must consider reducing import duties, cutting GST rate on EVs to 5 per cent from 12 per cent and continuation of subsidy support under FAME scheme for personal EVs. 

On India becoming a regional headquarter (HQ) for Hyundai from July 2 onwards, he said it reflected the importance of the market, considering it is among the only three regional HQs along with North America and Europe. 

On capacity enhancement in India, Koo said that they will increase production by 50,000 units from January 2019 at the Chennai plant. So, by next year they will have a total annual capacity of 7.5 lakh units, up from 7 lakh units this year.

Sharing the company’s target in India, he said, “Based on the current production capacity and another 50,000 being added next year, we feel that we will cross the 10 million cumulative milestones in India in the first quarter of 2021.”