HYUNDAI'S ROCKY RIDE TO RECOVERY

The automaker is making a strong push — to reclaim its declining market share. With competitors like Tata Motors and M&M stepping up their game, the question remains—can Hyundai turn the tide?

- ASTHA ORIEL PHOTO BY BANDEEP SINGH

To my way of thinking, there may be miracles in religion but not in politics or economics. We succeeded because our people devoted their enterprising spirits. Conviction created indomitable efforts. This is the key to miracles"

The enterprising spirits and conviction that Chung Ju Yung—who founded the Hyundai Group and turned it into one of the world’s largest industrial conglomerates in a classic rags-to-riches story—talked about decades ago are exactly what Hyundai Motor India needs as it battles the toughest challenge it has faced in its 29 years in the country.

In FY25, Hyundai Motor India’s market share fell to 14%, the lowest since FY13. It slipped to the 4th spot in February and March 2025, behind Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. The company got back to the 3rd spot in May and June but its overall trajectory is worrying; before this, it had been an undisputed number two ever since the 1998 launch of Hyundai Santro that revolutionised India’s small car market with its tallboy design, spacious cabin and smart advertising featuring actor Shah Rukh Khan. In the first quarter of FY26, the company’s sales declined 12% to 1,32,259 units, as against 1,49,455 units in the same period last year. In the first half of CY25, sales dipped 8% to 2,85,809 units, from 3,09,768 units in the same period last year.