Hyundai To Build EVs And EV Components In India – CleanTechnica

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It’s no secret that India is hardcore about trying to force local manufacturing. This has been a barrier to Tesla entering India for a while, and to many others. However, it’s a giant vehicle market with a lot of potential, especially as we get to cheaper and cheaper electric vehicles (EVs). Well, Hyundai sees the opportunity and is now jumping in.

First of all, the headline news from Hyundai overall is that it just held the largest IPO (initial public offering) in India’s history. That’s a big sign of support for the company, and Hyundai is immediately taking that and directing it toward EV production in India.

As far as producing components, not just the cars and SUVs, Hyundai is planning to produce battery systems, battery cells, and drive systems in the country. Furthermore, the company will be helping to build out EV charging infrastructure. Also, beyond simply manufacturing products in India, the company emphasizes that it’s been keen to lead on CSR (corporate social responsibility) and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) goals in the country (and surely worldwide).

“We knew that India was the future. That is why we continuously increased investments, expanded our R&D capabilities and created more than 250,000 jobs,” said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung. “We initiated various CSR activities and adopted ESG standards when few companies did.”

“As we move forward, HMIL will continue to embrace the highest standards in governance,” he stated. “Also, our commitment to localization will continue, based on the spirit of collaboration and shared growth. Our commitment to being a pioneer in future technologies will continue as well — right here in India,” Chung added.

Hyundai has been in the Indian market since 1996. With this IPO, though, and this big new foray into EVs, it is clear that Hyundai is looking forward to expanding in a new era of transportation. Hyundai has been seen as a leader in the development of highly efficient, good-money-for-value, high quality EVs globally over the past several years. So, it is not surprising to see that it is one of the first major global companies to take the Indian market seriously on EVs. Also, I think many EV followers will be hopeful that Hyundai can do this well and can help the Indian market to finally move forward more significantly on its large EV ambitions.

Also, if Hyundai does well in this effort, I imagine other legacy automakers will quickly try to enter the market as well, bringing competition and lower pricing. We’ll see, but it’s certainly nice to have India as a market to watch again.

Side note: Of course, the big EV market for India is the electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler market, and we need to get more insights into that. But cars and SUVs are important too, and it’s high time India starts working seriously toward 10% EV market share, then 20%, then 50%, and so on.