New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) has admitted that a slower pace of new model launches, facelifts and upgrades than its rivals hurt its domestic performance, in a rare acknowledgement as it battles market share losses to homegrown Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles.
In its latest annual report, the company acknowledged its weak performance in financial year 2025-26 (FY26), slipping to fourth place in the sales rankings after 16 years as India's second-largest carmaker behind Maruti Suzuki.
“While domestic sales noted a decline due to lower product enhancement activity compared to competitors, our Company noted around 16.4% growth in its export sales volume,” Hyundai Motor India said in its management report on its performance in the FY26.
While the company has maintained that it is focused on protecting margins and profitability rather than aggressively chasing the No. 2 spot, the admission suggests that a slower pace of product launches weighed on its performance. It had listed in October 2024 through a ₹27,000 crore initial public offering (IPO).
At 12:37 pm on Tuesday, shares of Hyundai Motor India were trading at ₹2,221.85, up 0.7%, on the BSE.
According to data from Federation of Automobile Dealers Association (Fada), Hyundai’s market share has slipped from 17.36% in FY21 to 12.29% in FY26 as its homegrown rivals Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles gained ground.
Hyundai India's domestic sales in FY26 declined 2% 584,906 cars while exports rose 16% to 190,125 units. Mahindra’s sales surged 20% to 660,276 units while Tata Motors PV sales grew 15% to 642,000 units.
The Korean carmaker’s woes are also reflected in its financial performance as net profit fell 0.3% to ₹5,432 crore in FY26. The company’s sales are largely being driven by the 2015-launched Hyundai Creta, which accounts for about a third of its sales.
Product push
To arrest the decline, the company plans to launch 26 new products by 2030, including new models, facelifts and upgrades. In FY27, it is set to introduce two new nameplates, one of which will be an electric vehicle (EV).
Analysts have estimated earlier that the worst of market share losses for Hyundai may be behind as the company looks to ramp up product launches.
“Hyundai’s market share decline should bottom in FY27 and begin recovering in FY28 as new products and capacity additions come online. For the past three years, Hyundai’s market share fell 210bp to 12.5% in FY26, mainly due to a lack of new product launches and tougher competition in the mid-size and compact SUV segment,” Elara Capital wrote in a 15 June report.
“We expect a slight dip to 12.3% in FY27E, followed by a rebound to 12.9% in FY28E, driven by several new launches, including one ICE & one EV in FY27 and capacity ramp-up,” Jay Kale of Elara wrote.
The company also began production at its new Talegaon facility last fiscal, which will initially ramp up capacity to 170,000 units annually, with plans to expand it further to 250,000 units a year. With this new plant, the company’s capacity will also cross 1 million units per year in the next few years.
EV expansion
In total, it has lined up eight hybrid models and 5 EV models to be launched by 2030 in a bid to regain market share from Tata and Mahindra, which lead the EV market.
The company also appointed an Indian, Tarun Garg, in January to lead its India operations for the first time in its 30-year presence in the country, in a move aimed at aligning its strategy more closely with local market needs.
“We are guided by our strategic direction shared at the Investor Day last year, encompassing planned investments of ₹ 4,50,000 million (FY 26 – FY 30), a future‑ready product pipeline with multiple new nameplates powered by eco-friendly powertrains including introduction of Hybrid technology and expansion of BEVs (battery electric vehicles),” Garg said in his first letter to shareholders after taking over as managing director and chief executive of the Indian unit.
"Our entry into luxury mobility with the Genesis brand, which has elevated the luxury experience worldwide and a continued focus on sustainable value creation for our investors and stakeholders,” he added.
Garg has said in the past that Hyundai’s India unit aims to reclaim the No. 2 position in the country’s passenger vehicle market, which is currently held by Mahindra. In its annual report, the company has also detailed the product enhancements it undertook during the last financial year.
“During the year, we refreshed the VENUE model with the all-new VENUE Full Model Change (FMC) in November 2025, which successfully re-energized our presence in the highly competitive sub-compact SUV segment and became a core volume catalyst by expanding individual nameplate to a peak of 12,413 units in January 2026,” Hyundai explained in its annual report.
“We drove advancements in sustainable mobility with CRETA Electric, our first deeply localized EV,” the company said on its flagship EV model, adding, “Building on this momentum, we further strengthened our premium EV portfolio with the IONIQ 5 in April 2026, reaffirming our commitment to offering cutting-edge electric mobility solutions across customer segments.”
“HMI has outlined a strong product pipeline of 26 models through FY30E, including seven new nameplates. As part of this strategy, the company plans to launch two new nameplates in FY27E to further strengthen its presence in the SUV segment,” analysts at Nuvama wrote in a 30 July report.
“Among these, one launch shall reinforce HMI’s position in the mid-SUV category (4.2 metre) while the other shall mark the debut of its localised dedicated EV in the compact SUV space. Furthermore, launch of the new generation Creta in FY27E will support sales performance. Led by new launches and continued demand, we are building in volume/revenue CAGR of 11%/15% over FY26–28E,” they added.