If the proposed acquisition of the US automaker’s Talegaon plant gets concluded, the total installed capacity at India’s second largest carmaker will go up to a million units by 2025.
An email sent to Hyundai remained unanswered. By June this year, Hyundai plans to increase its total capacity at its current plant in Tamil Nadu from 760,000 units to 820,000 units, it said in January. GM’s plant has an annual capacity to make 186,000 units.
The second plant will pave the way for production and export of Hyundai’s mass market models in the compact segment, said multiple people aware of the company’s plans. Hyundai has asked its strategic suppliers to gear up for making investments at their manufacturing units around the Talegaon plant. “They (Hyundai) have told us to firm up our investment plans. The first car from the plant is likely to get rolled out from 2025,” said one of the persons cited above.
Meanwhile, Hyundai plans to commence production of its micro-SUV codenamed Ai SUV from September 2023. To be pitted against the Tata Punch, it plans to make 50,000-60,000 units of the model in the first year taking it up to 70,000 units (including exports) in the second year.
Hyundai India has been relying on ramping up production at its existing facility by keeping a well-poised balance to cater to domestic and export demand, said a person privy to the developments at the company.
“The inorganic way of increasing capacity in India will help the firm chase market share aggressively after a hiatus of more than four years particularly at a time market demand is moderating”, said the person cited above.
