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Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung delivers welcoming remarks. / Hyundai Motor Group

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung unveiled a vision to expand the group's business scope in India beyond automobiles into energy, transportation infrastructure, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). The group plans to strengthen cooperation with local companies in electric vehicles and batteries while also moving to build charging infrastructure. The strategy is to foster India from a vehicle production and sales hub into a key market for future mobility businesses.

Meeting with reporters shortly after the completion ceremony of Hyundai Motor's Pune plant held in Talegaon, Maharashtra, India, on the 14th local time, Chung said, "While we have focused on automobiles for the past 30 years, going forward we will continue to invest not only in cars but also in infrastructure and energy." He added, "We want to be a company that grows together with India."

Regarding the completion of the Pune plant, he assessed, "This year marks the 30th anniversary of our entry into India, and I think this will be quite an important milestone," noting, "India is growing rapidly and is an extremely important market internationally."

Chung stated that during his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the previous day, they discussed potential cooperation across diverse future businesses in addition to automobiles.

Chung explained, "I mentioned providing higher quality, safer vehicles, and as electric vehicles are on the rise in India as well, we discussed collaborating with local companies in the EV and battery sectors to produce even better cars."

He added, "We discussed providing Indian consumers with diverse modes of transportation beyond cars, such as public buses and subways, and exploring how our experience in building infrastructure could be helpful. We also agreed to continue discussions and develop future energy, robotics, and AI step by step."

Regarding the Indian EV market, Chung expressed the view that a mid- to long-term approach is necessary. He judged that because charging infrastructure is not yet sufficiently established, local companies and global automakers must cooperate to lay the market groundwork.

Chung said, "Electric vehicles still lack adequate charging infrastructure. It seems necessary to work with the government to introduce and expand charging systems operated overseas." He emphasized, "This is not something we can accomplish alone, so there are areas where we must join forces with Indian automakers and global carmakers."

Regarding the growth pace of the EV market, he projected, "The EV market in India cannot be built overnight, so we will proceed step by step. I think it will take about five more years."

Chung also stressed a localization strategy. With the Indian government demanding an increase in the localization rate of parts, the plan is to find ways for domestic suppliers and local Indian companies to grow together.

Chung said, "Since there is a request to raise the localization rate in India, we will pool our wisdom to increase the local content ratio and find ways for our suppliers to succeed together here." He also expressed his intention to continuously push for the localization of core components, including batteries.

The group is also expanding the use of AI in manufacturing facilities, including the Pune plant. Chung explained, "AI is already widely used in office operations and factory quality control. It will be utilized in the same manner for quality control at the Pune plant and other new facilities."

He also shared his thoughts on marking his sixth anniversary as executive chair on this day. Chung said, "Six years went by so fast. I barely know how the time passed. Thanks to the united efforts of all our executives and employees, we were able to make progress, even if bit by bit."

He added, "I believe the most important thing is human resources. Dedicating all our efforts to helping human resources grow further and staying ahead in technology and quality is our mission."

                                                                                                           Nam Hyun-soo