Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) is intensifying its rural focus with a bold target to achieve 30% of total sales from rural markets within the next three to four years, according to Managing Director and CEO Tarun Garg. As reported by Business Standard, Garg stated that "I will not be surprised if in another three to four years we can reach about 30%." The company's rural strategy is already showing strong momentum, with rural contribution reaching 25.9% in Q1 FY26, up from 22.6% in Q1 FY26. In the April-August period of FY27, HMIL recorded domestic sales of 2,47,980 units compared to 2,20,233 units in the year-ago period, up 12.6%. Garg noted that "Rural (market) growth in quarter one was 23 per cent and urban growth was 2.8 per cent in quarter one of this fiscal," highlighting the significant rural outperformance.
Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) expects its domestic sales to grow 8-10% year-on-year in the second half of 2026-27 (FY27), significantly faster than the 5-6% YoY growth that managing director and CEO Tarun Garg expects for the overall passenger vehicle industry. According to reports from Rediff Moneynews, Garg stated that the company was preparing to launch two new models in high-demand segments to achieve this outperformance. The automaker has already recorded around 13% growth in domestic sales during April-August, and expects to sustain this momentum in the second half. As reported by Rediff Moneynews, Garg noted that "For us, we are expecting 8-10% growth. Overall for the entire fiscal, the industry could grow at around 8-10% and Hyundai is also looking for a similar growth for the full year." However, this projection contrasts with Maruti Suzuki's more optimistic outlook, where senior executive officer Partho Banerjee expects the PV industry to grow by at least 10% Y-o-Y in FY27, with annual sales likely to reach 5.3-5.4 million units compared with around 4.8 million units last year.
Hyundai expects electric vehicles to account for 7-8% of its sales next financial year, with the company planning to enter the sub-four-metre EV segment with a dedicated born-electric model. According to Business Standard, Garg confirmed that "In the festive season, we are going to launch one more mid (size) SUV and then we will have one more EV, which will be a dedicated EV in the sub-four metre segment. These are the two segments which are growing the fastest." The company's EV strategy extends beyond the current Creta Electric, which has seen monthly sales increase to around 1,000 units from 400-500 units earlier, with demand described as consistent rather than temporary. Hyundai also expects EVs, hybrids and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles to together account for around 50% of its sales by 2030, with the three technologies contributing broadly equally.
Hyundai's rural strategy is delivering exceptional results, with SUV penetration reaching 69% in rural markets compared to the overall SUV penetration of 68%, as reported by Business Standard. Garg explained that "There is still upside (for growth there) because if you see, the road infrastructure in India is continuously growing. There is hardly any difference now between the Tier 2 and Tier 3 road infrastructure and Tier 1 road infrastructure." The company is significantly expanding its rural network, with six out of every ten new outlets being added in rural areas. HMIL has over 1,510 sales outlets and more than 1,670 service centres across the country, with more than 100 mobile service vans catering exclusively to rural markets. Garg noted that "Our (overall) SUV penetration is around 68 per cent, and the best part is SUV penetration is equally strong in the rural markets as well."
Hyundai is significantly increasing its production capacity at both Pune and Chennai plants to support its growth ambitions. According to Rediff Moneynews, Garg announced that "The Pune plant will have a total capacity of 2.5 lakh units annually by 2028 and 3 lakh units by 2030, up from the current 1.7 lakh units per annum. Coupled with the Chennai plant capacity of 8.24 lakh units per annum, HMIL will have a total capacity of 11.24 lakh units per year." He emphasized that "We can take care of a very high double-digit growth, which we are expecting both from domestic and export markets, in the next five years with this kind of a capacity." The company is also bringing forward the third shift at its Pune plant by two years, starting from October 1 this year, while Chennai's capacity utilisation is expected to return to around 90%.
