Writing a new chapter

HIS NEW ROLE GIVES GARG AN OPPORTUNITY TO MOVE PAST THE UNDERWHELMING PERFORMANCE OF THE ALCAZAR AND EXTERAND POSITION HYUNDAI AS A TRUSTED PLAYER IN ALTERNATIVE FUEL TECHNOLOGIES

- NITIN KUMAR

SAILING THROUGH CHOPPY waters comes easily to Tarun Garg, who is set to be the first Indian to lead Korean automaker Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) when he takes charge as managing director and chief executive officer in January 2026.

When he joined HMIL as director of sales, marketing and service, in 2019 just months before the Covid 19 pandemic outbreak, the company was going through its most difficult period in decades.

Passenger vehicle sales had fallen more than 13% in the first half of that year, as weak consumer sentiment amid rising vehicle prices and tight liquidity hit overall sector demand.

Like its compatriots, HMIL logged a sharp drop in sales that year.

Garg, currently whole-time director & COO, HMIL, hit the ground running. Under his watch, HMIL recorded its highest-ever sales for three consecutive years, the best-ever EBITDA margin in FY24, and a successful 2024 IPO, the largest public offering in India’s equity market history.