Hyundai aims to regain second spot, bets big on new SUVs, production ramp-up

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is gearing up to regain its lost second position in the Indian passenger vehicle market. The South Korean auto major is betting big on new SUVs and production ramp-up to achieve this target. Hyundai India's Managing Director and CEO Tarun Garg has hinted that with two new SUVs, including an EV, lined up for launch and additional production capacity available, the OEM is looking to scale up volumes to regain the lost number two position in the domestic passenger vehicle market.

Hyundai is planning to launch a new mid-sized SUV in India during the upcoming festive season, which will be followed by an electric SUV in the sub-four metre segment. With these two SUVs, Hyundai is confident of beating industry growth in H2 FY27. This will be marked by the high base effect following accelerated demand due to the GST rate cut announced late last year.

The OEM is also hopeful of its EV penetration going up to the industry level of about 7% by next year with the new electric SUV coming in, which will be joining the existing models like Creta EV and Ioniq 5. "In the festive season, we are going to launch one more mid-size SUV, and then we will have one more EV, which will be a dedicated EV in the sub-four metre segment. These are the two segments which are growing the fastest," PTI quoted Garg as saying. He also said that while the industry growth rate for H2 FY27 will be affected by the high base effect, for Hyundai, that effect will be neutralised because of those two new models. "Total industry volume for H2 FY27 could be 5-6%. For us, we are expecting 8-10%. Overall for the entire fiscal, the industry could grow at around 8-10%, and Hyundai is also looking for a similar growth for the full year," Garg reportedly added.

In H1 FY26, the Indian auto industry struggled to post good growth till the festive season, as many consumers hesitated and held back their purchases. However, the numbers accelerated after the GST rate cut was announced on September 22, 2025, thereby making the base of the second half of last financial year high. Interestingly, the auto industry is still leveraging the sustained effect of GST 2.0.

Speaking of Hyundai, in the April-August period of FY27, Hyundai clocked about 13% growth. The OEM is looking at continuing this momentum and ending this year with maybe 8-10% growth, said the Hyundai top official. According to SIAM data, in the April-July period of FY27, passenger vehicle wholesales in the domestic market have grown 27.1% to 16,69,010 units against 13,13,135 units in the same period a year ago.

On festive season sales outlook, Garg said traditionally every festive season has been very good, and it is not going to be very different this time too. Already, Onam has been very good with the automaker doubling its sales compared to last year. He also said that the company's products, especially SUVs, have gained a lot of traction in rural markets and the OEM is confident of maintaining the momentum. The rural penetration was the highest ever for Hyundai at 26% in the last quarter.

Hyundai aiming for number 2 position

Speaking on its target to regain the number two position in the Indian passenger vehicle market, which the automaker lost to homegrown auto majors Mahindra and Tata Motors, Garg said that the company is very passionate about it. He hinted that the company will scale up rapidly and get back its lost market share, and eventually the number two position. Citing VAHAN registration for August 2026, Garg said, “In the ICE segment we are number two."

He added the company is scaling up its production capacity, especially at its Pune plant, which will have a total capacity of 2.5 lakh units annually by 2028 and 3 lakh units by 2030, up from the current 1.7 lakh units per annum. Coupled with the Chennai plant capacity of 8.24 lakh units per annum, HMIL will have a total capacity of 11.24 lakh units per year, he added. "We can take care of a very high double-digit growth, which we are expecting both from domestic and export markets, in the next five years with this kind of a capacity," Garg said.

Enhanced focus on electric cars

While speaking of EV penetration, Garg said the industry level is currently at about 7%, and for HMIL, with the new dedicated sub-four metre EV coming in, the company is looking to increase its electric vehicle penetration. "Already Creta EV has also started selling about 1,000 cars per month, and we can really leverage the new EV...with the Creta EV and the new EV along with the Ioniq 5, these three cars should take us closer to industry penetration by next year," Garg added.

Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2026, Best SUVs in India.