‘Electric Vehicles Are The Biggest Growth Drivers’

Hyundai India CEO-designate Tarun Garg, the first Indian to lead the company, talks about the SUV push and focus on profitability

- By HIMANI KOTHARI

ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EVs) WILL be Hyundai Motor India's most powerful growth driver in the near term, says incoming chief executive Tarun Garg, even as the carmaker pivots to hybrids.

Hyundai, which listed last year in the country’s largest IPO, has announced a ₹45,000 crore capex plan as it prepares for a product cycle that spans EVs, hybrids, off-roaders and MPVs through 2030.

The wholetime director and COO—set to become the first Indian to run the Korean giant's India operation—inherits both the public market and the group’s demands for margin discipline and a strategic mandate to increase market share to 15 percent by the end of the decade. Garg spoke with Forbes India on the sidelines of the launch of the new Venue. Excerpts:

Q You protected margins this festive season by not getting into a 'price war' after the GST cuts. Is that because you're a freshly listed company or is it going to be the norm going forward?