Hyundai Motor India to increase production capacity to 8.2 lakh units/yr from June: MD & CEO Unsoo Kim

Hyundai Motor India will increase its production capacity to 8.2 lakh units annually from June this year as it looks to reduce backlog orders with improvement in semiconductor supply issues, according to top company officials. The company, which is among the worst hit automobile manufacturers by chip shortage, currently has a backlog order of around 1.15 lakh units, with majority of them being its popular SUVs — Creta and Venue.

“We see the semiconductor situation is getting better this year. So, we are increasing our production to meet our customers and we are positive for this year,” Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) Managing Director and CEO Unsoo Kim said on the sidelines of the Auto Expo 2023.

Last year all the automobile manufacturers were suffering due to the shortage of electronics components but it is getting better, he added.

HMIL Chief Operating Officer Tarun Garg said the company currently has about 1.15 lakh units back orders and majority is in Creta and Venue SUVs.

“We are increasing the supplies… last year Creta was 1,40,000, which was 12 per cent more than 2021… From June we would have increased the (plant) capacity to 8,20,000 units from the current 7,60,000 units (per annum),” he said.

Garg further said, “As we get more and more semiconductors, we will keep on not only increasing the capacity for more sales of Creta but we will also introduce new models as well.”

When asked about the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and its impact on supply chain, Kim said issues would be there but the company expects the semiconductor situation to get better this year despite global issues, including Russia-Ukraine war, US-China geopolitical tension.

He said despite HMIL reaching 85 per cent localisation, the company has to import some electronic components from China, South Korea and Europe as India doesn’t have a semiconductor industry at the moment.