Hyundai Bets on SUVs, EVs for Next Growth Phase in India

Hyundai Motor India is betting on SUVs, electric vehicles and a wider product portfolio to drive its next phase of growth in India, as the South Korean automaker pushes ahead with its Rs 45,000 crore investment by FY30. Under its Vision 2030 strategy, Hyundai Motor India plans to expand manufacturing capacity, deepen localisation and accelerate electrification, with India expected to become Hyundai Motor Company’s second-largest market globally by the end of the decade. 

This comes at a time when Hyundai Motor India faces intensifying competition in the domestic market. Its domestic sales declined 2.3% to 5,84,906 units in FY26 from 5,98,666 units in FY25, even as the overall passenger vehicle market expanded during the year. The company attributed the decline to “lower product enhancement activity compared to competitors” in its annual report for FY26. 

The automaker plans to launch two new SUVs by FY27, one a localised mass-market electric SUV and the other an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) model. Overall, Hyundai has lined up 26 product launches between 2025 and 2030, spanning new models, facelifts, derivatives and product enhancements, it added. 

Fiscal year 2026 has seen a continued shift among Indian car buyers from low-cost passenger hatchbacks and sedans to SUVs, with the latter accounting for 67% of total sales. The shift in consumer choice has also been evident in Hyundai India’s FY26 sales, with SUVs accounting for 68% of total sales.   

“HMIL is also steadily evolving towards becoming a smart mobility solutions provider, aligned with India’s changing mobility needs, with a growing focus on SUVs in response to customer preferences and the advancement in eco-friendly powertrains and premiumization for the masses,” Tarun Garg, Managing Director and CEO of Hyundai Motor India, said in his annual report statement.  

In its SUV-led growth strategy, Hyundai India is relying primarily on Creta and Venue, the best-selling models in the category. During FY26, Hyundai India sold 2,01,921 units of the Creta model, about 25% of total sales. The company sells at least 11 variants of the Creta.

 Hyundai India’s EV struggle   

With growing EV penetration in India, Hyundai Motor India is looking to expand its electric vehicle lineup. Last year, the company launched an electric variant of its Creta model. Earlier in 2023, it had launched the IONIQ 5 model. However, the automaker has seen very limited success till now.  

Electric Vehicle model sales made up just about 1% of Hyundai India’s total sales in FY26. In comparison, EV sales of its competitor, Mahindra & Mahindra, accounted for 12% of its total sales for the year.   

Furthermore, Hyundai Motor India’s market share in the EV passenger vehicles is the lowest among the major carmakers in the country, even behind new entrants like VinFast and BYD. The company has about 2% market share in the EV category. Its peers, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and JSW MG Motors, control market shares of 39%, 23%, and 21%, respectively.   

To expand into the EV segment, the company plans to launch a new electric SUV under a new nameplate by FY27. The company is aiming to localize production of critical EV components such as the battery pack to cut costs and build a domestic supply chain. The company is also doubling the production capacity at the Pune plant, which is capable of producing both ICE and EV vehicles. 

Hyundai Motor India is also building a network of 600 EV chargers by FY26 and increasing EV readiness at service centers and dealer networks. While these efforts are well and good from a customer-experience perspective, the company first needs to build an electric car capable of replicating the Creta's success. 

For now, even the electric variant of Creta struggles to find a foot in the market, as Hyundai India’s total EV sales in the first half of the calendar year 2026 were just 2,725 units. For comparison, EV market leader Tata Motors sold 57,370 electric cars during the same period.