Hyundai Can Regain No. 2 Spot in India by 2028-29, Says CEO José Muñoz

Hyundai Motor Company President and CEO José Muñoz expects Hyundai Motor India to regain its position as the country's second-largest passenger vehicle manufacturer by 2028-29, with the company's newly inaugurated Pune plant set to play a key role in expanding production capacity and supporting its next phase of growth.

Speaking on the sidelines of the inauguration of the plant, Muñoz said the company's ability to recover market share would depend largely on increasing vehicle production to meet demand. "This factory is going to help us (in getting more cars). Once the factory increases production up to 3.2 lakh units, we're going to get there. At the latest, maybe 2028 or 2029," he said.

Hyundai has slipped to fourth place in India's passenger vehicle market amid intensifying competition from domestic manufacturers, including Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. However, Muñoz said the company was not fixated on its market ranking. "We are not obsessed with that. The most important thing is to have a good product, good quality and then everything else is going to come," he said. Muñoz added that India was its second-largest market after the US that year and remained an important market for Hyundai globally.

Pune plant to anchor capacity expansion

The facility, spread across 300 acres, was acquired from General Motors in 2023 and will manufacture the Hyundai Venue exclusively, making Pune the SUV's sole production location.

Hyundai plans to increase the plant's annual production capacity from 1.7 lakh units to 3.2 lakh units by 2030. The company has committed an investment of up to ₹11,000 crore in the Maharashtra facility and aims to take the combined annual production capacity of its Pune and Chennai plants to 11.4 lakh units by 2030.

The capacity expansion is expected to support both domestic sales and exports as Hyundai prepares to introduce 26 new models and strengthen its position across powertrain technologies.

Tarun Garg, Managing Director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India, said the Pune facility would also provide a strong manufacturing base for the company's planned hybrid vehicles.

"We are going to have hybrids as well. The whole idea is by 2030, 50% of our portfolio will be sustainable," Garg said, outlining the company's broader product and powertrain strategy.

Hyundai is pursuing a multi-pronged growth plan that combines capacity expansion with new model introductions, electric vehicle investments, greater localisation and export growth.

"Yesterday, you saw that we have already invested at a group level USD 15.5 billion, so very clearly HMI is going to be a very big beneficiary. So, we are having a multi-pronged approach. Today, you saw the capacity addition," Garg said.

Hybrids and EVs to shape future portfolio

Hyundai's renewed focus on hybrids comes alongside its push to expand its electric vehicle portfolio and build a more localised EV supply chain in India.

The company plans to have four EVs in its portfolio by 2029 and is investing in charging infrastructure and domestic manufacturing of key components. Battery packs and power electronics have already been localised, while Hyundai is also evaluating cell localisation to develop a more comprehensive domestic EV ecosystem.

The company has set a target for sustainable powertrains to account for 50% of its portfolio by 2030, with hybrids and battery electric vehicles expected to play an important role in meeting that ambition.

The Pune plant is expected to support this transition, with Garg describing Maharashtra's manufacturing ecosystem as an opportunity to deepen localisation and strengthen Hyundai's industrial base.

The company aims to increase localisation levels from the current 83% to 92%, with suppliers in Maharashtra expected to play a significant role.

"We have seen the plant. It's a very, very highly automated plant. So we are looking at Pune to really, really provide a great fillip to our plants in India," Garg said.

Export-focused

Hyundai's strategy also includes a substantial increase in exports. The automaker currently exports around 24% of its production, up from 20% five years ago, and intends to raise this share to 30%.

Garg said Hyundai had already crossed the milestone of four million cumulative vehicle exports from India, making it the first company in the country to achieve this landmark, but added that the company was not satisfied with its current export performance.

"We want to increase more. So, I think that is the second thing which we are going to do, not only in the domestic market, but also in the exports market," he said.

Garg added that Hyundai Motor India would be a significant beneficiary of the group-level investment, although a detailed allocation across manufacturing, research and development, localisation and the startup ecosystem would be announced later.

He said the group's earlier investment-day announcement of USD 5 billion covered the period from 2025 to 2030, while the new commitment spans 2026-32 and includes investments across the broader group. Of the investment already committed in Maharashtra, Hyundai has invested ₹7,000 crore directly, with another ₹4,000 crore planned by 2030. Its vendors have additionally invested ₹4,600 crore in the state.

Garg said Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers had already generated more than 18,000 jobs in Maharashtra, with further investment and capacity additions expected to create additional employment.

He added that the Pune plant's expanded capacity should provide sufficient headroom until 2030, while also giving Hyundai a base to strengthen its future manufacturing operations.

Muñoz said Hyundai's approach in India would remain centred on product quality, durability, reliability and features suited to local consumers.

"The Indian consumer is the most demanding in the world. So always telling us how to do better, whatever they don't like, they want to improve quickly. So if we do well here, we can do well everywhere," he said.

Additionally, Muñoz indicated that a CNG-powered version of the Venue could arrive soon. This is in line with Hyundai's plan to increase production, expand its product pipeline and offer a wider range of powertrains, which will be central to its efforts to regain lost ground in India.