Hyundai Motor India, which faces intense competition from Tata Motors in the mainstream automobile market, plans to take on the homegrown carmaker in the volume electric vehicle sector over the next 12-24 months.
According to Autocar Professional, once Hyundai India introduces the Creta EV in the midsize electric SUV market in the first quarter of 2025, its Korean parent has been given the company permission to compete with Tata’s Punch EV.
The compact SUV, codenamed HE1i, is set to enter the road in the second half of 2026. It will be mainly based on the Inster EV, which the firm showcased at the recently concluded Busan Auto Show in South Korea.
With the Creta EV, Hyundai Motor India is embracing both ICE-derived electric vehicle architecture and the born-electric car platform, which is based on the widely available and reasonably priced E-GMP (K) platform (for the HE1i EV). The model will be manufactured at the company’s Sriperumbudur facility with localised batteries from Exide.
