[RavenAvi]

South Korean auto maker Hyundai is planning to invest nearly Rs 6,300 crores (over $1 billion) in strengthening it's Indian arm (Hyundai Motor India Limited, or HMIL) and it's future operations in the next three years - specially on new products and development of new powertrains - besides setting up a new office building in Gurugram, Haryana.

Among the company's chief plans are: re-introducing the Santro brand to the Indian market by Diwali 2018, bringing out an electric vehicle by next year, and launching seven other new products between 2018-20.

According to HMIL Managing Director and CEO, Mr Y K Koo:

"The investments will be on nine new products to be launched between this year and 2020, powertrain development and setting up of our new office building in Gurugram. Two will be completely new models, one will be an electric vehicle, two facelifts and four will be full model changes of existing products.

Our first EV in India will be launched next year. At the moment we are yet to finalise whether it will be the Ioniq EV sedan or the full electric version of SUV Kona. We will import our first EV as CKD (completely knocked down) units and assemble at our Chennai plant. Later on, depending on market response, we will consider manufacturing here in India but that will take time."

Koo said among the two completely new products its plans to launch, one is a compact family oriented car codenamed AH2. When asked if it would be launched as 'Santro', Koo said that "is a possibility" but the company is yet to take a final call on the matter. "It would be launched near Diwali this year. So we will take a final call on the Santro badge at around that time. However, I must admit that we are under a lot of pressure from dealers, customers and market to bring back the Santro brand." Sharing details about the product, he said the hatchback would be wider and taller than the i10 model. The car will be powered by a petrol engine with options for factory-fitted CNG engines. It will also have automated and manual transmission options.

Koo also said HMIL is preparing for the introduction of its compact SUV codenamed "Qxi" sometime next year. The vehicle will be powered by a 1-litre turbocharged petrol engine.

"We can increase the current production capacity at Chennai plant to 7.13 lakh units. Even with domestic market growing at 7-8 per cent, with flexible production at the plant, we can manage by 2020. We would like to have a market share of around 17 per cent in the domestic market by 2020."

ET Auto

[GTO]

Trust Hyundai to come and steal Maruti's thunder! Timing aside, Maruti & Hyundai are the ones who are going to increase the adoption & acceptance of EVs. Surprising how Mahindra Electric is getting beaten in the race, despite having the first mover advantage (E2O & e-Verito are only niche products).

Maruti & Hyundai control 70% of the market. If anything could have disrupted their dominating positions, it would have been 'technology', but both seem to have covered their positions there. At least for the short-term.

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

and launching seven other new products between 2018-20.

Talk about a product onslaught! And it's a similar case with Maruti too. The less committed players simply have no chance in the fight; for instance, VW's main product is still an almost decade-old hatchback & its booted siblings.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by GTO

Surprising how Mahindra Electric is getting beaten in the race, despite having the first mover advantage (E2O & e-Verito are only niche products).

Bangalore being one of the hubs of Erstwhile Reva, we see relatively more of these E20 running on our roads. I have approached them couple of times after the E20plus got launched(whenever there were talks about reduced taxes or other soaps) and to my surprise every time the price was bumped up to ensure I end up paying north of 7-7.5L for the base model. If they could only pass on the benefits directly to the customers we would have probably seen more of them on the roads

[volkman10]

The just launched Hyundai Kona, starts at a base price of $20,450 in US.

At this price point undercuts the Ford EcoSport, Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-3 and Toyota C-HR’s starting prices, making it one of the best bargains in the subcompact crossover segment.

But at what price a CKD Kona EV is expected to retail in India?

[TusharK]

Hyundai aims to sell 50 units of Kona EV per year in India

Hyundai plans to launch its first electric vehicle (EV) in India in 2019. Its first electric offering will be the Kona SUV, which will be imported via the completely knocked down (CKD) route. According to a media report, Hyundai aims to sell 50 units of Kona EV in India per year.



The Kona EV is expected to be powered by an electric motor with an output of 132 BHP and 395 Nm of torque. Hyundai claims that the electric motor will accelerate it from 0-100 km/h in 9.7 seconds to a top speed of 155 km/h. The Kona EV will come equipped with a 39.2 kWh lithium-ion battery pack offering a claimed range of around 300 km per charge. It is claimed that the batteries can be charged to 80% in 54 minutes using a fast charger, while it will take around 6 hours to charge it via a household socket.

Besides the Kona, Hyundai is also considering the Ioniq mid-size sedan and an electric version of the Xcent compact sedan for India.

Source: Business Standard

[TusharK]

Hyundai promises EVs, mobility solutions for India

Hyundai showcased the Kona Electric SUV at Move: The Global Mobility Summit 2018 held in New Delhi. The company reaffirmed its commitment to delivering shared, connected and zero-emission mobility for India.



Earlier this year, we had reported that Hyundai was planning to launch its first EV in India in 2019. The Kona EV is likely to be the brand's first electric offering, which could be imported as a completely knocked down (CKD) unit. Hyundai claims that the Kona has a range of 482 km on a single charge.



Hyundai claims to have developed a smart mobility solution based on Freedom of Mobility, Connected Mobility and Clean Mobility, which includes electric vehicles (EV), hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV).

The company plans to build strategic business partnerships with mobility service providers and car sharing start-ups. It claims to be developing a Connected Car Program to link all road cars with each other. It would also enable an individual's car to be linked to a place of interest in an urban environment, such as his workplace.

Link to Team-BHP News

[V.Narayan]

Delighted to hear this. With Hyundai as the second biggest foreign car maker in the country, given the commitment they have demonstrated to the Indian market and their genuinely solid track record in A.S.S. this is an area to watch. By 2020 Hyundai, Volvo and Maruti will all have EVs on the road and Tata and M&M may come up with something better too. I am an unapologetic fan of EVs and will buy one in 2020 after checking out the performance in the first few months of what ever is then on the table. Eventually the Chinese will set up shop here too in big numbers.

[aim120]

Hyundai product looks more of a serious effort, compared to Maruti. The Japanese car companies like Maruti and Toyota lack EV experience.

The Korean company also has two more Korean companies Lg and Samsung for batteries.

For the Japanese car makers, Panasonic can barely keep up with Tesla demand and with the arrival of Tesla semi, Model Y, it will be a tight supply.

That leaves Murata (formerly Sony till 2017) and Toshiba. If the battery tech of Murata is same as Sony (which is the world's oldest and most experienced Lithium battery maker, *Sony/Murata battery cells can match or surpass the battery tech from Panasonic, samsung and Lg) but their production plants can barely meet the demand of batteries used in consumer electronics and power tool industry.

Toshiba atleast publicly does not have battery cells of high capacity or high discharge rate, which are both crucial for EV. So, it looks like Maruti and Toyota again are at a disadvantage.

* Ask any hobbyist including me, who use 18650 battery from RC drone/planes to flashlights, E-cigarate users to Diy Ev conversions. They will vouch for Sony 18650 cells.

[dark.knight]

I'm a fan of 2 things as far as driving goes.. pin drop silence, and effortless torque. I'm not bothered about speed or power but the pedal must get the car moving quick even with a mm of input.

Looks like I'd like the electric car experience and if this comes in next year and if we can manage a good resale price of the present car, I should be one of the first in line for the Kona. Sedans are too low slung and do not enable easy ingress/egress, crossovers are going to be the cars of the future as they aren't as high as the big SUV's which seem more like trucks. Perfect middle of the line experience.

Price this in the 30 region on-road and I'm ready and waiting.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by aim120

Hyundai product looks more of a serious effort, compared to Maruti. The Japanese car companies like Maruti and Toyota lack EV experience.

The Korean company also has two more Korean companies Lg and Samsung for batteries.

For the Japanese car makers, Panasonic can barely keep up with Tesla demand and with the arrival of Tesla semi, Model Y, it will be a tight supply.

While I agree that Hyundai (and KIA) are making proper EVs while Toyota and Suzuki are lagging, you don't need to be Korean car company to buy batteries from LG or Samsung. LG is selling batteries to many companies including non-Korean companies like Chevrolet (bolt) and Jaguar (I-PACE). Samsung just made a huge deal (5 GWh a year) to supply batteries to Jaguar. Samsung competed with LG Chem and Panasonic for this deal.

Any car company can purchase batteries from the likes LG, Samsung, Panasonic, BYD, CATL, etc... As this involves a lot of capital expenditure requirement, battery companies ask for firm commitments from car companies.

[aim120]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

While I agree that Hyundai (and KIA) are making proper EVs while Toyota and Suzuki are lagging, you don't need to be Korean car company to buy batteries from LG or Samsung. LG is selling batteries to many companies including non-Korean companies like Chevrolet (bolt) and Jaguar (I-PACE). Samsung just made a huge deal (5 GWh a year) to supply batteries to Jaguar. Samsung competed with LG Chem and Panasonic for this deal.

Any car company can purchase batteries from the likes LG, Samsung, Panasonic, BYD, CATL, etc... As this involves a lot of capital expenditure requirement, battery companies ask for firm commitments from car companies.

Yes, they can buy batteries from anyone. But so far, no Japanese car company has used batteries other than from Japan.

One thing you have to know about Japanese people, if there is a choice they will always buy Japanese product, it's called Japanese pride.
There was a bad history between Japan vs Korea and China dating all the way back to WW2, this to some degree as a effect on their procurement's from a consumer to a big corporate giant.

For e.g. Even Canon and Nikon use Sony made batteries, EVF and image sensors in their products (Canon only uses Sony sensors in Non-ILC cameras).
The Japanese were about to loose to the Koreans in small LCD panels, which are used in smartphones, cameras etc. But the Japanese government intervened to merge many Japanese companies Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi to form Japan Display Inc, to fend off the Korean competition. Now sharp is asking the Japanese government to do the same for OLED.

[sri_tesla]

Originally Posted by aim120

Yes, they can buy batteries from anyone. But so far, no Japanese car company has used batteries other than from Japan.

One thing you have to know about Japanese people, if there is a choice they will always buy Japanese product, it's called Japanese pride.

I am not sure if this is a must rule. There must be thousands of suppliers of different parts for major car companies like Toyota, Honda. Are you saying all of them are sourced from Japanese companies if there is Japanese option, irrespective of better quality and cheaper options available outside? How all this work in situations like Nissan-Renault partnership?

Anyway, even if the Japanese companies should purchase only from Japanese, Panasonic is great option for them. Panasonic can expand as and when there is a firm deals with automobile companies. They will build separate factories based on the specific capacity requirements. The shortage of batteries is not confined to Panasonic. Its the same situation with LG Chem and others. That is why many companies are entering into multi-year deals with them in advance.

[aim120]

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

I am not sure if this is a must rule. There must be thousands of suppliers of different parts for major car companies like Toyota, Honda. Are you saying all of them are sourced from Japanese companies if there is Japanese option, irrespective of better quality and cheaper options available outside? How all this work in situations like Nissan-Renault partnership?

Yes, for the most part they choose Japanese and it will be the logical choice in Japan due to logistics. If you go to electronic or appliance store in Japan, the Korean brands are in some corner or not displayed at all, despite them being cheaper. When it comes to batteries Panasonic and Sony are the market leaders. Sony sold it's Lithium business to fellow Japanese company Murata, since they weren't profitable despite the batteries costing a lot more then a Samsung or LG.

Originally Posted by sri_tesla

Anyway, even if the Japanese companies should purchase only from Japanese, Panasonic is great option for them. Panasonic can expand as and when there is a firm deals with automobile companies. They will build separate factories based on the specific capacity requirements. The shortage of batteries is not confined to Panasonic. Its the same situation with LG Chem and others. That is why many companies are entering into multi-year deals with them in advance.

Panasonic had even tied up with Toyota but I believe that deal is now dud. Panasonic will need many such Gigafactory to produce batteries for other vehicle makers. Their current plants in Japan are supplying batteries to Tesla Model S/X, while the Gigafactory in Nevada makes the newer 21700 for Model 3, Semi, PowerWall and all other future Tesla products.

Formula E had signed a deal with Sony for batteries, such was their class leading performance but I believe they now switched to Samsung because of some unforeseen natural disasters. We hobbyists used to get the left over from Sony under supply, which I believe started after Tsunami and repeated earth quakes in Japan and for 2 years there was fake Sony batteries everywhere. Now we are seeing more genuine Sony/Murata batteries for average Joe to buy. (Sony refuses to sell batteries to distributors who resell batteries to individuals, but when they do trickle down to end users they are class leading cells in terms of performance). So hopefully Murata can get the cost down.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by aim120

Yes, for the most part they choose Japanese and it will be the logical choice in Japan due to logistics. If you go to electronic or appliance store in Japan, the Korean brands are in some corner or not displayed at all, despite them being cheaper. When it comes to batteries Panasonic and Sony are the market leaders. Sony sold it's Lithium business to fellow Japanese company Murata, since they weren't profitable despite the batteries costing a lot more then a Samsung or LG.

Interesting stuff.. my present mantra based on buying and ownership experience is that Japan is still number one by a long shot when it comes to household electronics.. Sony is a quality leader in just about everything they put their hands into, JVC was a giant when it came to televisions and VCRs of yore, Sharp is an exponent in displays.. their 4 colour OLEDs blow the oversaturated gimmicky Samsung AMOLEDS out of the water. Panasonic has undergone slight saturation but only to compete in a value war the Koreans started. When Samsung needed camera sensors they ran to Sony, when Samsung couldn't calibrate their screens and had no expertise in making LCD displays, they ran to Sony and when their Note battery bomb fiasco happened they ran to Sony to make batteries and Sony rescued them once more. However, it was foolish of Sony to do so, Samsung rode their coat-tails to sales glory in the process while Sony just was happy with the component earnings. I buy only Sony, Sharp for televisions, and the fridge too was changed to Sharp from the earlier plastic exponent Samsung. The aircon is Panasonic.

In automobiles though I feel its the exact opposite based on my experience with Japanese cars locally.. quality, tactility and heft wise the South Koreans have upped the game and left the Japanese far behind.. unfortunately Japan no longer focuses on great quality cars though strangely, they still seem to be riding on an old reputation. I know what I'm talking about.. the old Corolla was well built, the new one not so much, the first gen arrowhead City was well built, miles ahead of the current gen and the SX4 was well built, the Ciaz can't hold a candle to it.

Interesting history these 2 nations have had.. a mix of interdependence, rivalry and shared heritage. There seem to be presently in excess of 50k willing South Koreans forming a blue & white collar force in Japan (cheaper to hire). Scars of Japan's exploitation of their labor force shall remain though.

In the midst of the battle I think Taiwan has taken a cozy middle-ground with Foxconn (display makers), Amita Tech and LICO (lith-ion battery makers).

[sandeepmohan]

Hyundai is on a slow and steady rise. Their Ioniq, which competes with Toyota's Prius has been gaining popularity. A New Zealand government agency just renewed their car fleet and they were all Hyundai EV's. A district council in the town of Taupo have also updated their fleet with Hyundai EV's. In general, EV registrations have doubled year on year and gaining popularity.

Hyundai taking a light stab at the pioneer in the EV space.