November 23, 2024

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Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun (center left) rings the bell at the National Stocks Exchange of India to celebrate the local unit's stock debut in Mumbai on Tuesday. He is accompanied by Hyundai Motor Company CEO Chang Jae-hoon (far left) and NSEI CEO Ashish Chauhan (center right). (Hyundai Motor Group)

Hyundai Motor India made a monumental debut on the Indian stock market, marking the largest initial public offering in India’s history and the first overseas subsidiary of a Korean company to go public in global markets.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun and key executives, including Chang Jae-hoon, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company; Kim Un-soo, vice president of Hyundai Motor India; Tarun Garg, chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor India; and some 250 people from the Indian stock exchange and global media participated at a listing ceremony held at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai earlier in the day.

The ceremony started with a traditional Indian lamp lighting, followed by Chung ringing the opening bell to celebrate the listing of the Indian subsidiary on the stock exchange.

“Hyundai Motor India has become an integral part of India since its foray into the market,” said Chung during the event. “We recognized early on that India represents the future, so we have consistently increased our investments, expanded our research and development capabilities, and created over 250,000 jobs.”

Chung added, “Moving forward, the company will continue to adopt the highest governance standards, making prudent and transparent decisions through its board of directors. We remain committed to boosting localization, founded on the spirit of cooperation and mutual growth. Our efforts to pioneer future technologies will continue here in India.”

Hyundai Motor India’s stock was listed at 1,934 rupees ($23) on the National Stock Exchange at 10 a.m. local time. Compared to its issue price of 1,960 rupees, the shares initially rose 1.9 percent to 1,970 rupees but then saw a sharp decline of 5.9 percent to 1,844 rupees earlier in the day. It further dropped 7.1 percent to 1,820 rupees at the closing bell.

Seven of the country’s largest IPOs, including Hyundai Motor India and Life Insurance Corporation of India, reported losses during the listing day ranging up to 27 percent, according to data from Dealogic.

The IPO price for the Indian subsidiary was determined at the upper end of the price band. Retail investors were lukewarm during the subscription period from Oct. 15 to 17 due to concerns over a slowdown in the automotive industry. However, it attracted aggressive biddings from institutional investors, leading to an oversubscription of 2.39 times. The IPO raised approximately $3.3 billion, valuing the company at $19 billion.

Already the second-largest carmaker in India, following Japan’s Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor Group is betting big on India to make it a strategic export hub as part of its expansion into emerging markets, such as the Middle East, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

With a population of 1.4 billion, India is emerging as a critical mobility market. Last year, the Indian automotive market reached 5 million units, ranking third after China and the US. The number of passenger cars, which accounted for 4.1 million units, is expected to surpass 5 million units by 2030. Additionally, the Indian government has set a goal to increase EV sales to 30 percent of total vehicle sales by 2030.

With the capital raised from the stock market, the auto giant plans to ramp up investments in its local auto plants, electrification, and research and development in advanced automotive technologies.

Once Hyundai Motor’s third plant in Pune, Maharashtra, is completed next year, the company, along with its affiliate Kia, will be operating four car manufacturing plants in India. By 2028, the annual production capacity is expected to surpass 1.5 million units.

Hyundai Motor and Kia also demonstrated a strong commitment to begin mass production of electric vehicles in the country that has a growing interest in clean mobility. Hyundai plans to launch its first locally produced EV, the electrified version of the popular sport utility vehicle Creta, in January next year, to complete five EV lineups by 2030. Similarly, Kia will start production of its first locally-made EV next year and aims to introduce four EV models by 2030.

Hyundai Motor Group is also accelerating the adoption of advanced technologies to the cars sold in India such as connectivity, Over-the-Air updates, V2X communication, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and digital keys, to strengthen its premium image.

To secure a competitive edge in EV pricing, Hyundai Motor is working on localizing the production of key components such as battery cells, battery packs and EV power systems. A new battery pack production facility is being built at Hyundai's Chennai plant and production of locally tailored EV models will begin early next year. Hyundai also plans to expand EV charging stations with its extensive sales network.

Additionally, Hyundai Motor has further strengthened its collaboration with the Tamil Nadu state government to improve the EV ecosystem. Last year, Hyundai and Tamil Nadu signed a memorandum of understanding to invest in green mobility and modernization of production facilities over the next decade. This includes setting up a battery pack assembly plant, expanding the EV model lineup, and installing 100 fast chargers at key locations in the state.

As for research and development, the carmaker will boost its global innovation capabilities through continued collaboration between its technical center in Hyderabad, Telangana State, and its Namyang R&D Center in Gyeonggi Province, Korea.

Experts say India will serve as one of the key global strategic bases for Hyundai Motor.

“Given that China’s protectionist policy is making foreign companies face huge challenges in conducting business there, India could be the ‘next China’ for the carmaker,” noted Kim Pil-su, a car engineering professor at Daelim University. “Also, due to the ‘Make in India’ policy, Hyundai is (on some level) forced to boost manufacturing within the country and localize car parts to avoid hefty tariffs.”

Although it may take some time to accelerate EV sales due to its price hurdle, if the carmaker receives the Indian government’s subsidies and expands clean mobility infrastructure, claiming the top position in the clean mobility market will only be a matter of time, added Kim.

By Byun Hye-jin  (hyejin2@heraldcorp.com)