Hyundai Motor Group, which includes Hyundai and Kia, announced plans to launch their first India-manufactured electric cars (EVs) by 2025, a key step in their efforts to enhance their position in India’s growing EV industry, which is presently led by Tata Motors.
Production of Hyundai’s first locally made electric vehicles is set to begin by the end of 2024, with an official launch date of 2025. Kia will also launch its India-made electric car around the same time, according to a recent announcement. By 2030, Hyundai and Kia plan to launch five new electric vehicles in India.
Earlier this month, Hyundai disclosed that Exide Energy Solutions’ batteries will be used by both Kia and Hyundai to power their electric cars.
The largest market for Hyundai outside of North America and Europe is India. The company is preparing for what would be the largest initial public offering (IPO) in the nation, a $3 billion IPO. Currently ranked as the second-largest automaker in India, Hyundai is most well-known for its best-selling ‘Creta’ sport utility vehicle. However, Kia’s EV6 and its current electric vehicles, the Kona and IONIQ 5, are imported. For the automakers, the new move toward local production strategic shift for the carmakers.
Hyundai reiterated its goal to reach a one million unit annual production capacity by 2025. To reach this goal, it plans to increase Kia’s production from about 300,000 to 432,000 vehicles, increasing Hyundai and Kia’s total capacity in India to 1.5 million units.
