Hyundai plans more SUV rollouts to regain market share amid stiff domestic competition ahead of India IPO: Report 

Hyundai Motor is hoping to regain market share from its domestic rivals by launching a series of new SUVs as it gears up for a $3 billion public listing in India, Reuters reported. 

The carmaker’s SUV rollout will begin with its first India-made electric vehicle launch early next year and the launch of at least two gasoline-powered models tailored for the Indian market in 2026, the report added. 

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), the country’s second-largest passenger carmaker, is gearing up for an initial public offering (IPO). The Gurugram-headquartered local subsidiary of Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) recently filed a draft red herring prospectus with the market regulator SEBI to dilute a part of its promoter stake. Although it has not announced any specific date for its IPO, sources indicate that HMIL, a 100 percent subsidiary of HMC, might make its market debut as early as 2025. 

As per the DRHP, the company’s plan involves an offer for sale (OFS), through which the parent HMC intends to sell 142.2 million of its shares, representing 17.5 percent of HMIL. The company has not disclosed the expected proceeds from the IPO. If successful, the market debut of HMIL will go down as India’s largest IPO. State insurer Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) Rs 21,000-crore public offer in 2022 currently holds the record for the largest IPO in India. 

As per experts, the automaker’s decision to enter the market through the OFS route means that HMC will receive all the proceeds; and HMIL, currently not allowed to issue new shares during the IPO, will not get anything. However, the move is expected to benefit HMIL, giving it the opportunity to secure additional funding from the market if needed later to support its future growth and capex requirements. 

Hyundai’s India plans 

Despite a global slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, Hyundai Motor Group is planning to sell two million EVs a year globally by 2030, the South Korean automaker said during CEO Investor Day meeting on August 28. 

The company is aiming to offer a full lineup of 21 EV models by 2030. Amid the recent slowdown in EV sales, the company is developing a new EREV (extended range electric vehicle) strategy, which will combine the advantages of internal combustion engines (ICE) and EVs, according to the company. 

According to Hyundai Motor India, the new EREV increases the driving range to more than 900 km. The company claims that the new EREV also maximises the use of the existing engine in terms of battery capacity optimisation and allows refueling, and stress-free charging. 

Hyundai entered India in 1996 and its early success in the country, which has been a graveyard for automakers like Ford and General Motors, was due to affordable hatchbacks, which has since been discontinued. 

Hyundai now has eight SUVs in its portfolio of 13 cars but its share of India’s total SUV sales of 25 lakh units last financial year fell to 19 percent from 24 percent three years ago, the Reuters report said. 

Of the two new gasoline-powered SUVs Hyundai is planning for India, the first will competing against Maruti's Fronx crossover and Tata's Nexon SUV. The second will be bigger than its Creta SUV and is expected to compete with Mahindra’s XUV700, it added.