Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has announced it has commenced local assembly of battery packs at a newly commissioned facility within HMIL’s Chennai manufacturing facility. The Korean brand says it has achieved up to 92% localization in manufacturing in India.
The newly launched Hyundai Creta Electric will be the first model equipped with locally assembled battery packs from the plant. HMIL’s localization efforts have led to forex savings of US$672m (INR 5,678 Crore+) since 2019 and fostered direct employment opportunities for over 1,400 people.
Commenting on HMIL’s commitment toward localization, Gopalakrishnan Chathapuram Sivaramakrishnan, whole-time director and chief manufacturing officer of HMIL, said, “HMIL’s indigenization efforts are deeply in sync with the government of India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives, and our localization strategy strives to constantly leverage India’s rich resources, skilled workforce and advanced engineering prowess to develop world-class technology domestically. The commissioning of the HMIL and Mobis India Limited’s battery pack assembly plant is a key milestone in our localization and EV roadmap.”
With its dedicated localization team, HMIL is constantly enhancing its localization efforts by working closely with 194+ vendors for over 1,238 parts at its Chennai manufacturing facility.
The battery pack assembly plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, located within HMIL’s manufacturing facility, has been set up with Mobis India. Phase 1 of the plant has an annual assembly capacity of 75,000 battery packs. It will assemble a diverse range of battery packs including NMC (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt oxide) and LFP (lithium-iron-phosphate) batteries. This will help optimize battery costs for HMIL and streamline battery availability for Hyundai EVs produced in India.
Hyundai Motor India Limited also intends to ramp up its localized supplier network by adopting an indigenization strategy for its upcoming manufacturing plant in Talegaon, Maharashtra, India.