Hyundai India CEO urges localisation of chips, EV cells and power electronics
Hyundai Motor India CEO Tarun Garg called for deeper localisation of advanced automotive technologies, including semiconductors, EV battery cells and power electronics, to reduce import dependence and build India’s design, patent and export capabilities.
What happened
Hyundai Motor India CEO Tarun Garg urged the auto industry to localise advanced technologies including chips, EV battery cells and power electronics, shifting
Key facts
- Auto-component exports: approximately USD 24 billion in FY2025-26
- Auto-component imports: approximately USD 25.4 billion in FY2025-26
- Auto-component trade deficit: approximately USD 1.4 billion
- India GDP: approximately USD 393 billion in 1996 to USD 4.15 trillion
- Passenger-vehicle industry: under 0.5 million units to over 4.7 million units since 1996
- Viksit Bharat target year: 2047
Why this matters
Corporate development teams should target partnerships, JVs or acquisitions that add semiconductor, cell and power-electronics design IP while expanding export-ready local capacity.
What to watch
- New Indian incentives or tariff changes covering automotive semiconductors, battery cells, battery materials and power electronics.
- Announcements of Hyundai-linked Indian joint ventures, supplier nominations or long-term cell and electronics offtake contracts.
- Growth in domestic EV volumes sufficient to support dedicated local production lines.
- Automotive-grade semiconductor packaging, testing and design investments rather than only fabrication announcements.
- Changes in the auto-component import/export gap, especially imports of electronic control units, cells, modules and traction-power components.
- Evidence that Indian suppliers win export programmes for Hyundai, Kia or other global OEM platforms.
- Secure multi-year localisation roadmaps with Indian Tier-1 suppliers for inverters, onboard chargers, battery-management systems and vehicle control units.
- Use Hyundai-Kia purchasing scale to create supplier volume commitments that justify local tooling, testing and R&D investment.
- Prioritise design and validation capability, including automotive-grade testing labs, functional-safety engineering and patent ownership, rather than assembly-only localisation.
- Build dual-source strategies for critical chips and battery materials while maintaining import continuity during local capacity ramp-up.
- Partner with cell manufacturers, recyclers and material processors to localise battery-pack economics and recover strategic materials.