HMIL will stand as a trusted partner in India’s Viksit Bharat vision, says Hyundai chief Chung

South Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Company is taking the next big step with the IPO of its Indian arm which shows its commitment to the country, Hyundai Motor Group Executive chair Euisun Chung said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the listing ceremony of Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), Chung also said that the IPO also shows HMIL is a key part of India.

Shares of Hyundai Motor India Ltd made a muted market debut and further fell by nearly 6% against the issue price of ₹1,960.

The ₹27,870-crore initial public offer of Hyundai Motor India Ltd, which had a price band of ₹1,865-1,960 per share, was subscribed 2.37 times on the last day of the bidding on Thursday, helped by institutional buyers.

With this fundraising, HMC has diluted its stake by 17.5% in HMIL.

This was the largest IPO in the country, surpassing LIC's initial share sale of ₹21,000 crore.

The Initial Public Offer (IPO) was entirely an Offer For Sale (OFS) of 14,21,94,700 equity shares by promoter Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), with no fresh issue component.

HMIL commenced operations in India in 1996 which was by the launch of the Santro model in 1998. It currently sells 13 models across segments.

"Today's IPO shows that HMIL is a key part of India. It demonstrates our commitment to this great nation and ensures that our shareholders and HMIL will continue to grow together," Chung said.

From the beginning, Hyundai Motor Company knew that India was the future, and hence, it has been increasing investments and expanding its R&D capabilities in the country, he stated.

HMIL has emerged as the fastest-growing auto major in India which today is considered an icon of innovation, Chung said, adding, "As India marches towards the Viksit Bharat vision, Hyundai will stand as a trusted partner in it."

"This IPO is the right action for us to take a step forward to further Indianise our operations, and we want to become a home brand, while the IPO is an important milestone, but it's just the beginning," Hyundai Motor India Managing Director Unsoo Kim told reporters during an interaction.

"We will put our all efforts into satisfying our customers with our prominent products and services, uphold our shareholders' value and also contribute to India's sustainable growth with our continued investment," he added.

The company pays 3.5% of the passenger car revenue as royalty to the parent HMC, which is in line with or less than the market for (availing) technology, electric vehicles, future technologies as well and the use of the brand, HMIL Chief Operating Officer Tarun Garg said and added that this will remain unchanged post IPO.

India's story is much more robust than a few months of slowdown as the demand has always bounced back very quickly, he said, emphasising that the company is very optimistic and confident about the growth of the industry.

Going by the VAAHN data, the vehicle registration is 25-30% up sequentially in October, he said.

He said that HMIL has a very robust plan for capex which is to the tune of ₹32,000 crore to be spent until 2032, which includes capacity expansion and a strong EV localisation ecosystem, among others.