Is the Hyundai hybrid making an Indian debut soon? Well, the Hyundai management is rather tight lipped about it. While they are clear about making Hyundai Motor India tech agnostic, there was no clear timeline given for the launch of the hybrids in the Indian market. For Creta EV though the management confirmed the launch in Q4 of the current fiscal, from January-March 2025.
While several media reports indicated a potential hybrid launch by 2026, Unsoo Kim, MD and President, Hyundai Motor India did not share a specific timeline. Replying to a question posed by Financial Express.com, he said that, “We are well positioned to introduce hybrids in India. Hyundai globally is a strong player in hybrids, be in Europe, US and Korea so Hyundai Motor India has access to all of that Group technology. I cannot specify the exact timeline, but we closely monitor customer preferences and will cater to the demands of customers and trends.”
He added that since 1998, HMIL has been ahead of the curve in terms of offering technology that caters to customer preferences, “HMC has a variety of technology such as petrol, diesel, CNG, EV, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and even hydrogen. These technologies are available for leveraging.”
Is Hyundai late to catch the EV trend in India?
EVs in that context is also an opportunity that Hyundai is keen to capitalise on. But are they late to the EV party? According to the Hyundai management, India is still at an early stage of electrification with just 2% penetration. In comparison US and Korea have seen 10-20% adoption and China leads the pack with 30% EV adoption.
Hyundai in that context has plans to deliver a strong pipeline of EVs, based on its global expertise, to the Indian consumers as the market matures. COO Tarun Garg explained that while the Ioniq is more of a niche product, the soon to be launched “Creta EV will help give better headroom to play in the electric space. 3 more launches to follow Creta EV will help.” However, Hyundai doesn’t just plan to offer electric vehicles but it is also looking at developing a robust EV ecosystem including “localisation of EV products.” Garg further explained that this will also help price Creta EV competitively and offer better value to the cost-conscious Indian customers. He added that Hyundai has plans to “make India an export hub for EVs and ICEs alike.”
Don’t want to miss the CNG craze
Hyundai Motor India is quite clear about keeping its \offering tech agnostic and catering to every kind of demand segment. Given the popularity of CNG variants, especially in hatchbacks, Garg highlighted that “CNG penetration is going up and will play an important role in the entry level market in India.” He pointed out that Exter CNG demand has increased to 25% from under 20%. Similarly several other CNG offerings are also seeing improvement in traction.
According to him being tech agnostic, feature-rich along with premiumisation is how Hyundai hopes to increase volumes across Indian cities. He listed out the key “growth drivers for Hyundai are-
-8 of 13 Hyundai models now have ADAS Technologies
-Cost optimisation a key factor
-Export a key growth driver.”
The Hyundai stock however made a lacklustre debut on the indices. Experts and market observers however believe that the long-term opportunity in the company is what will stand out eventually.
