• Hyundai Motor of South Korea has begun building a tiny electric car for India.
• Company executive would not say when the company’s small electric vehicle (EV) would be launched in India.
• EVs account for less than 1% of total automobile sales in India but government wants to increase that to 30% by 2030.

Hyundai Motor of South Korea has begun building a tiny electric car for India in the future, despite the company’s focus on delivering more premium models to the nation this year, according to a company executive who spoke to Reuters on Thursday.

In an interview, Tarun Garg, director sales, marketing, and service for Hyundai India, said that many departments are working on topics such as the charging environment, sales network, production, and the type of assembly process the manufacturer should have.

“We need to look at as much localisation as possible,” Garg added, referring to sourcing and manufacturing components locally to keep prices down and keep the automobiles inexpensive.

While Garg would not say when the company’s small electric vehicle (EV) would be launched in India, he did say that the timing must be appropriate “so we can introduce it at the right pricing.”

“The ecosystem should be ready,” he continued, “and we should have adequate charging.”

The little electric vehicle is part of Hyundai’s larger ambition to invest 40 billion rupees ($512 million) in India by 2028 to debut six electric vehicles, promoting clean driving in a country with some of the world’s most polluted cities. find out more

EVs account for less than 1% of total automobile sales in India, but the government wants to increase that to 30% by 2030 in order to reduce pollution and fuel imports.