Hyundai working on small, affordable electric car for India

Garg Furnace

17/06/2022 03:21

(Repeats with no changes)
    By Aditi Shah
    NEW DELHI, June 16 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor
Co  005380.KS  has begun developing a small electric car for
India for the future even as it focuses on bringing more premium
models to the country starting this year, an executive told
Reuters on Thursday. 
    Various departments are working on issues such as charging
ecosystem, sales network, manufacturing and the kind of assembly
process the carmaker should have, Tarun Garg, director sales,
marketing and service for Hyundai India, said in an interview.
    "We have to look at as much localisation as possible," Garg
said, referring to sourcing and producing components locally to
control costs and keep the cars affordable.
    While he did not comment on when the company would launch
its small electric vehicle (EV) in India, Garg said the timing
has to be right "so we are able to bring it at the right price".
    "The ecosystem should be ready, we should have enough
charging," he said.    
    The small EV is part of Hyundai's broader plan to invest 40
billion rupees ($512 million) to launch six electric vehicles in
India by 2028, making a clean driving push in a country with
some of the world's most polluted cities.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SS1UJ
    In India, EVs account for less than 1% of total car sales,
but the government is aiming for a share of 30% by 2030 as it
looks to reduce pollution and fuel imports.
    Until its small EV hits the roads, Hyundai will launch
premium models starting with its Ioniq 5 electric crossover this
year and will gradually move down the price chain, Garg said. 
    The Ioniq 5, which has a range of about 480 kms, is priced
starting at around $44,000 in the United States.
    "When it was about cars with internal combustion engines, we
had this bottoms-up approach. In electric, we are trying the
top-down approach," he said, adding that for mass market EVs to
succeed there needs to be a widespread charging network and
lower battery prices.
    Hyundai in 2019 launched its Kona EV in India, mainly to
test the market, but sales were tepid as the price was high and
public charging infrastructure was negligible. Garg said lessons
from the Kona will feed into its future EV strategy in India.
    
    ($1 = 78.0499 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by David Gregorio)
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