About 9.88 million vehicles sold through the third quarter of this year

Automaker on track to cross 10 million mark before year's end

India-specific SUV lineup, led by Creta and Exter, drives growth

Pune factory now operational, bringing annual capacity to about 1 million units

Hyundai Motor's vehicle lineup on sale in India [Hyundai Motor]
Hyundai Motor's vehicle lineup on sale in India [Hyundai Motor]

Hyundai Motor is on the verge of a historic milestone in India — crossing 10 million cumulative vehicle sales more than three decades after entering the market.

According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, Hyundai Motor had sold 9,884,960 vehicles in India on a cumulative basis through the third quarter of this year, since it began sales at its Chennai factory in 1998 with the Santro. Given current sales trends, the automaker is widely expected to surpass the 10 million mark before the end of the year.

Hyundai Motor has posted steady growth since entering the Indian market. It crossed 1 million cumulative sales in 2007 and 5 million in 2017. Sales then accelerated sharply, driven by a locally tailored SUV lineup designed to match Indian consumer preferences and sustained investment in the market.

The company's India journey began in 1996 when it established a local subsidiary, followed two years later by the mass production and launch of the Santro — its first model — at the Chennai factory.

The Santro quickly earned a reputation as India's "people's compact car," winning over buyers with its spacious interior and practicality, and anchoring the Hyundai brand's successful debut in the country. Hyundai Motor captured second place in market share in its first year and went on to broaden its sales base with a succession of small and subcompact models, including the i10, i20 and Verna.

As the Indian auto market expanded and consumer demand diversified, Hyundai Motor introduced the Creta in July 2015 — its first India-specific SUV. The model was developed squarely around local needs: a roomy cabin suited to India's multigenerational family culture, high ground clearance to handle rough road conditions, and a built-in air purifier.

The Creta was an immediate hit, topping monthly SUV sales for three consecutive months after launch and selling more than 40,000 units in its first year. It was named the 2016 Indian Car of the Year and was credited with setting a new benchmark for the country's SUV segment.

Hyundai Motor extended its SUV lineup with the Venue in 2019, the three-row Alcazar in 2021 and the entry-level Exter in 2023.

The Exter proved particularly popular, combining an affordable price with six standard airbags and a sunroof. It sold more than 47,000 units in its first six months and was named the 2024 Indian Car of the Year.

In 2025, Hyundai Motor launched the Creta EV — its first locally produced electric vehicle in India — bringing its total SUV lineup to eight models, including derivatives such as the Creta N Line, Venue N Line and Ioniq 5.

The expanded lineup translated directly into stronger sales. After the Creta's launch, Hyundai Motor's annual sales in India exceeded 500,000 units for the first time in 2016. In 2020, the Venue and Creta together pushed the company's annual market share to a record 17.4 percent, and in 2024 it sold 605,433 vehicles — the highest annual figure since entering the market.

SUVs have accounted for a growing share of sales since 2015, crossing the 50 percent threshold in 2021. Last year, SUV sales reached 398,937 units, representing nearly 70 percent of total sales. Three India-specific SUV models — the Exter, Creta and Alcazar — together accounted for 282,666 of those sales.

Through the third quarter of this year, Hyundai Motor sold 471,724 vehicles in India, of which 316,026 were SUVs. At the 2026 CEO Investor Day, Hyundai Motor President and CEO Jose Munoz said the company aims to raise the SUV share of its India sales to 80 percent by 2030.

Hyundai Motor also plans to launch a new version of the subcompact SUV Bayon in India this year to further expand its lineup. Pre-orders for the model opened in India in September.

The company is also moving quickly to strengthen its production base. Hyundai Motor currently operates three plants in India — Chennai Plants 1 and 2, and the Pune factory. The Chennai facilities have a combined annual capacity of 824,000 units, while the Pune plant can produce 170,000 units per year, giving the company a total local production capacity of about 1 million units.

Hyundai Motor plans to expand the Pune plant's capacity to 250,000 units by 2028 and to 320,000 by 2030, lifting total production capacity in India to more than 1.1 million units annually. The company also aims to raise the local parts procurement rate to over 90 percent by 2030 to sharpen cost competitiveness, and to increase the export share of its India output to as much as 30 percent, positioning the country as a global export hub.

Meanwhile, through its Hyundai Future Mobility Innovation Center, the company signed agreements in May with four leading Indian universities — the Indian Institutes of Technology in Hyderabad and Kanpur, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur, and Tezpur University — to establish joint research frameworks, underscoring its commitment to nurturing local talent and advancing future mobility capabilities.


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