Hyundai Motor to invest $845 million to upgrade India plant

Hyundai's manufacturing plant in Talegaon, India. [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Hyundai Motor will spend 70 billion Indian rupees ($845 million) on its India plant in Talegaon to upgrade its manufacturing equipment.

The carmaker will sign a deal with the Maharashtra government at the annual World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland, this week, Devendra Fadnavis, deputy chief minister of the western state of Maharashtra, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

"The investment marks Hyundai's debut in developing a manufacturing facility beyond Tamil Nadu, specifically in Talegaon, where the company has operated successfully for over 25 years," he said.

Hyundai Motor declined to comment on the investment size and further plans, but said it will “make phased investments to upgrade the existing infrastructure and manufacturing equipment at the Talegaon plant."

Hyundai last year purchased the factory in Talegaon from General Motors after the U.S. carmaker ceased operation in 2017 amid dropping sales.

The Talegaon plant has an annual production capacity of 130,000, which will likely boost Hyundai's production capacity in India to 1 million.

Mass production will restart at the plant in 2025, according to Hyundai.

Hyundai Motor is eyeing India as the new manufacturing base for its EV strategy after the sharp drop in Chinese sales in recent years due to tensions over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or Thaad.

Hyundai sold a total of 602,111 cars in India, an all-time high figure in the 27 years since the Indian subsidiary was formed in 1996. It is now in the No. 2 spot behind Maruti Suzuki, according to data from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

As a country with the largest population, India has the world’s third-largest auto market after China and the United States and ahead of Japan. Around 4.73 million vehicles were sold in India alone in 2022, up 25.7 percent.

Hyundai also has two plants in Chennai in Tamil Nadu in the southernmost part of India, with a capacity totaling 850,000.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]