What exactly is Hyundai’s EV strategy for India?

They have a great global portfolio when it comes to EVs. This means they can leverage their supply chain network and gain serious advantage in India

BHPian electric_eel recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I have never really understood the strategy of Hyundai (and by extension Kia) towards EV for the Indian Market. As a car maker they should have been in the pole position for:

1. They have deep roots in the Indian market and understand the Indian market well.

2. On the whole their ASS is considered good.

3. They had the first mover advantage when they brought Kona to India.

4. They have a great global portfolio when it comes to EVs. This means they can leverage their supply chain network and gain serious advantage in India

5. Unlike the Japanese, they are not allergic to battery chemistries.

6. Being a Korean brand they have a decent grip on battery technology (not as much as Chinese but surely better than most other brands).

Why then such a lack luster performance when it comes to the low and mid segments of EVs ? May be they do not have a good grip on the LFP battery technology and all their cars so far have been NMC if I am not mistaken. I think it is more or less clear that for low and mid segment LFP will rule the roost. Or do they want to move up the ladder? Are they sensing a weakness in the European car OEMS when it comes to EVs and want to displace them in the EV segment globally ?

Here’s what BHPian GoBabyGo had to say on the matter:

Hi, a very good & genuine question. In my view it all depends on the production capacity in case of Hyundai & Kia. I think Kia is at 100% of their production capacity vs sales and Hyundai must be around 98% to 99% including export.

I may be wrong, but there is a need of assembly line dedicated to EV to have EV line up which would require investment. With the current sales number of EV in India, I am not sure it will be easy & viable for Hyundai & Kia to increase their production capacity with significant investment on EV.

Like others, may be Hyundai & Kia is waiting for the battery price to reach to affordable level before bringing their EVs. I am anticipating Korean to bring SSD battery for EVs by 2025 end or early 2026 which will be significantly lighter and will have better range for the kWh.

Here’s what BHPian navinmra had to say on the matter:

My two cents:

• India as a country cannot drive volumes until home charging becomes prevalent.
• Gen 1 architecture has not only the price point to appeal to the Indian buyer but also suffices with home charging for the most part
• Hyundai’s portfolio like Tesla or Mercedes are already born electric with fast charging and all the bells and whistles which cannot come at a price point of a gen 1 car like Nexon which shares platform with its ICE counterpart.
• The only way forward then for Hyundai is to go the Chinese way and build cars here that are already at scale elsewhere (read Wuling) and reap manufacturing subsidies that govt offers
• I would love for the Inster to be launched here in India, but not sure what the bosses at Hyundai are thinking.

Here’s what BHPian ToThePoint had to say on the matter:

Hyundai, Maruti are volume driven companies. Unless they see volumes, they wouldn’t pursue the game. Also for them, there is no incentive getting into setting up charging infrastructure unlike Tata who can get into the business via their own distribution company while still keeping the revenue in house and getting it done with cost advantage compared to third party collaborations. Tesla had to get into charging infrastructure cause they were the pioneers and their entire business is EVs, so it gives them strategic advantage as well.

IMO, these companies have waited it out to see how the ecosystem develops with/without government help. Many would want to sit it out until there is clarity on policies from govt end. Mahindra took the same approach. It’s not that these companies aren’t working on/have working prototypes/products. They just have to cross the final line.

It’s certainly not got anything to do with production capacity. And no business runs at 98-100% utilisation unless they have no intention of growing or unless you are Mahindra. Companies will invest in capacity expansion the moment they hit 75-80% of existing capacity.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.

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