Hyundai India in senior leadership changes with a record year

As it closed a record year in terms of sales, Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) has announced elevations in its senior leadership. Tarun Garg, director, sales, marketing and service, has been elevated to the chief operating officer (COO)—where he will be overseeing sales, marketing, service, and product strategy. Meanwhile, Gopala Krishnan CS, Vice President (Production) has been elevated to the chief manufacturing officer (CMO)—where he will be overseeing production, quality management, and supply chain. Both elevations are effective from Monday.

In addition to their new elevated roles, Garg and Gopala Krishnan CS will continue to serve as whole-time directors on the HMIL board. “The elevations stand testimony to Hyundai Motor India’s commitment to recognise and appreciate its leadership. Our core values define our work culture and stand tall to enhance key roles and verticals, as we take a step forward to work incessantly in building a meaningful value chain for our customers, partners and employees,” says Unsoo Kim, MD and CEO, HMIL.

The Indian arm of the South Korean carmaker has closed the calendar year (CY) 2022 with an all-time high domestic sales of 5,52,511 units. This corresponds to a growth of 9.4 % over last year. In exports, the company recorded an export of 1,48,300 units in CY 2022, with a growth of 13.7 % over last year. “Our relentless pursuit to redefine customer experience and a strong product portfolio aligned with consumer trends have led to HMIL recording its highest-ever domestic sales of 5,52,511 units in CY 2022, a growth of 9.4%,” says Garg. According to him, SUVs make up for 50% of its overall volumes. “Our showstopper model, the Hyundai Creta, registered its highest ever annual sales volume of 1,40,895 units in CY 22 since its introduction in 2015,” he adds.

The carmaker has also doubled down on its SUV portfolio to cater to consumer preferences. “On the back of Indian customers’ rising affinity for SUVs, we further strengthened our SUV line-up with the introduction of three new trend-setting SUVs—with the all-new Hyundai Venue; the all-new Hyundai Tucson, and the Hyundai Venue N Line—to spearhead transformation in the Indian automotive industry,” recounts Garg. He earlier told Fortune India that the Hyundai Venue has proved its mettle in the compact SUV segment ever since its launch. “New Venue N Line will be a notch higher in terms of technology and connectivity, comfort and performance,” he said at the time.

On 21st December, HMIL also opened bookings for the Hyundai IONIQ 5, its award-winning battery electric vehicle (BEV) SUV for a booking amount of ₹1 lakh on its website. “Hyundai IONIQ 5 is a grand statement of conscious consumerism. As committed, we will introduce this world-class BEV SUV to induce customer delight and usher in the future transformation of India’s automotive landscape,” said Unsoo Kim at the launch event. The Hyundai IONIQ 5 has been equipped to offer customers an ARAI-certified range of 631 kilometres.