Hyundai Motor India Limited

History

In the early 1990s, the Indian automobile market had only five major automobile manufacturers: Maruti Suzuki, Tata and Mahindra, Hindustan, Premier. Maruti Suzuki had a near monopoly over the passenger cars segment. Tata and Mahindra were solely utility and commercial vehicle manufacturers, while Hindustan and Premier both built outdated and uncompetitive products. Daewoo had entered the Indian automobile market with Cielo just three years back, while Ford, Opel and Honda had entered less than a year back.

Hyundai Motor India Limited was formed on 6 May 1996 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea. Its first manufacturing plant was constructed in Irungattukottai near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Its first car, the Hyundai Santro, was launched on 23 September 1998 and was a runaway success. Within a few months of its inception, HMIL became India's second-largest automobile manufacturer and the largest automobile exporter.

Mr Yang Soo Kim was then the managing director of Hyundai Motor India. The Indian counterpart leadership team was managed by Mr AP Gandhi, Mr BVR Subbu and Mr G.S. Ramesh. Mr AP Gandhi was the president for a few years of inception. Mr BVR Subbu was the marketing director responsible for dealer development and sales. He resigned from Hyundai Motor India in 2006.

HMC has set up a research and development facility (Hyundai Motor India Engineering – HMIE) in the cyber city of Hyderabad.

As HMC's global export hub for compact cars, HMIL became the first automotive company in India to achieve the export of 10 lakh cars in just over a decade. HMIL currently exports cars to more than 87 countries.

In July 2012, Arvind Saxena, the Director of Marketing and Sales stepped down from the position after serving the company for seven years.

In August 2018, Rakesh Srivastava, Director of Sales and Marketing at Hyundai India, resigned from his position after serving for six years.

On 4 December 2018, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, announced the top-level management changes immediately. Seon Seob Kim assumed the responsibilities of MD and CEO from Young Key Koo.

Manufacturing facilities

HMIL has two manufacturing plants, one in Irungattukottai, Tamil Nadu and Other in Talegaon, Maharashtra. Irungattukottai Plant has a capacity of 850,000 vehicles per annum.

Models

Discontinued models

Milestones

Sales and service network

As of 2025, HMIL has 1,366 sales points and 1,550 service points across India. HMIL also operates its own dealerships known as Hyundai Motor Plazas in large metros across India. HMIL has the second largest sales and service network in India after Maruti Suzuki.

Brand ambassador

The carmaker got Shah Rukh Khan on board as its brand ambassador for the Hyundai Xcent, the company's recently launched sub-compact sedan in India. 1998, SRK shot his first TVC for the Hyundai Santro, and his association with the car brand has now turned 23.