South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor is steering its India strategy towards hybrid vehicles, signalling a pragmatic pivot from an earlier all-electric focus. At its first investor day in Mumbai on 15 October 2025, the company unveiled a USD 5.1 billion (Rs 425 billion) investment plan through 2030, placing hybrid petrol-electric vehicles at the core of its India portfolio. By the end of the decade, Hyundai plans to offer eight hybrid SUVs across multiple price segments, alongside five battery-electric vehicles (EVs). “Range anxiety and cost remain real barriers, and that’s where hybrids come in,” said Jose Munoz, Hyundai’s Global CEO, adding that hybrids are vital for a market constrained by limited charging infrastructure and price-sensitive consumers. The new plan, adopted jointly by Hyundai and Kia, aligns with a global trend where automakers are diversifying beyond EVs to meet tightening emission norms amid slower-than-expected EV adoption. India’s evolving emissions policy also reflects this shift, promoting hybrids and biofuels under a broader multi-fuel strategy. Hyundai aims for electrified vehicles — including hybrids, battery-electric, and range-extender models — to account for 60 per cent of global sales by 2030, targeting 3.3 million units annually. In India, the company expects to achieve USD 11 billion in sales by the same year. Munoz underscored India’s growing importance, noting that the country has risen from Hyundai’s fifth-largest market in 2020, contributing 11 per cent of global sales, to its third-largest with 15 per cent today. By 2030, India is projected to become Hyundai’s second-largest region globally, behind only North America. While Hyundai targets a modest rise in India’s market share to just over 15 per cent by 2030, Munoz stressed profitability over volume. “We don’t see value in expanding share for the sake of it if we’re not making money. It’s better to have sustainable, profitable growth,” he said. The investment will fund factory upgrades, localised R&D, and battery manufacturing, enabling the rollout of 26 new or refreshed models through fiscal 2030, including seven all-new models. From 2027, Hyundai will also introduce made-in-India Genesis luxury vehicles to compete with BMW and Mercedes-Benz, alongside a compact EV tailored for urban buyers. India’s evolving tax regime, which has narrowed the levy gap between hybrids and EVs, as well as partnerships such as Hyundai’s battery supply agreement with Exide Industries, further strengthen the hybrid push. Globally, Hyundai forecasts hybrids to outpace EVs in key markets such as the United States. “EVs are growing at 10 to 20 per cent a month, but hybrids are growing at 60 to 80 per cent,” Munoz said. “We are not here to tell customers what to drive — we are here to respond to what they want.” In a major leadership shift, Hyundai appointed Tarun Garg as its new Managing Director and CEO for India, effective January 2026 — the first Indian executive to lead the subsidiary in 30 years. Garg will oversee execution of the 2030 roadmap, succeeding Unsoo Kim. Hyundai’s India unit, which listed on the stock exchange last year, has seen its shares surge 34 per cent in 2025, outperforming the 5.7 per cent rise in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. With SUVs projected to drive 80 per cent of its India sales, Hyundai is also positioning the country as a major export hub, targeting 30 per cent of production for overseas markets, particularly the Middle East. “India is not a part of Hyundai’s globalisation strategy — India is the strategy,” Munoz concluded.