PUNE: Hyundai Motor is stepping up its India expansion with a new factory in Pune, bringing its annual production capacity in the country to close to one million vehicles, as the South Korean automaker strengthens its foothold in the world’s third-largest auto market.
Built on the site of a former General Motors plant acquired in 2023, the facility is central to Hyundai’s strategy to make India both a major production base for domestic sales and an export hub serving emerging markets.
The expansion comes as Hyundai marks 30 years in India, where it has grown into the country’s second-largest automaker and established one of its most important overseas manufacturing bases.
Hyundai officially inaugurated the Pune plant on Wednesday in a ceremony attended by Hyundai Motor Group executive chair Chung Euisun, Hyundai Motor chief executive officer Jose Munoz and senior Indian government officials, including Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
In a stand-up interview with the media, Chung said he discussed broadening Hyundai’s footprint in India well beyond passenger cars during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
The talks covered public transportation, including buses and subways, as well as infrastructure, clean energy, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
On manufacturing technology, Chung noted that the new Pune facility and other upcoming plants will heavily deploy AI, particularly for quality inspection and control.
Addressing the country’s electric vehicle (EV) transition, Chung highlighted charging infrastructure as a primary bottleneck that requires broad industry collaboration.
“We need to join forces with other companies, including both global peers and Indian automakers,” Chung said, adding that Hyundai plans to incorporate more locally manufactured components to accelerate battery production and supply chain localisation.
The new plant begins with an initial annual capacity of 170,000 units, with plans to ramp up to 250,000 units within two years and 320,000 by 2030.
Alongside its two Chennai plants, which together produce 824,000 units, Hyundai’s annual capacity in India now approaches the one million mark.
The expansion also boosts the groupwide output.
Together with Kia’s Anantapur facility, Hyundai Motor Group’s overall capacity now stands at 1.42 million units annually and is projected to surpass 1.5 million units after 2028.
While the Pune plant will eventually add hybrid models to its assembly lines, its initial output is led by the second-generation All-New Venue compact SUV, targeting the domestic market and export to over 30 countries across Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
Since its launch in 2019, the Venue posted 802,221 sales in India through May this year, with overseas shipments increasing global cumulative sales to past 850,000 units.
By taking over Venue production, the Pune plant frees up Chennai’s lines to accelerate EV output, aligning with the Indian government’s push for 30% EV sales by 2030. — The Korea Herald/ANN
