Hyundai Motor India plans to invest about ₹4,000 crore for research and development over the next seven years as it looks to roll out six new electric vehicles in India by 2028.
“We will be investing ₹4,000 crore for R&D towards expansion of our Battery Electric Vehicle line-up to six vehicles for the Indian Market by 2028,” S.S. Kim, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., told The Hindu, hinting that the first vehicle may be introduced as early as next year.
The investment will go into research and development (R&D) for expansion and the products will be available across models such as sedan, sports utility vehicle (SUV) and crossover utility vehicle (CUV). The company is already selling Kona EV since 2019 which comes in the form of a completely built unit (CKD).
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Stricter emission regulations by governments are propelling automakers globally to invest in EVs, sales of which are expected to increase to about a quarter of total global vehicle sales by 2030 from about 2% today.
In India, EVs account for less than 1% of total car sales, but the government is aiming for a share of 30% by 2030.
Hyundai’s plans also come as the world’s biggest electric carmaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) is preparing to launch its cars in India and has been lobbying the government to lower import duties on EVs.
(With inputs from agencies)
