Power LIst 2020 – Hyundai

The local arm of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. is planning to make India a global hub for developing small cars. It means that India might not be only the production base.

The automaker currently has about 1,000 employees in India for R&D. Bulk of the workforce is based at Hyundai’s R&D centre in Hyderabad and a handful at its company’s manufacturing facility in Chennai to coordinate between the two sites.

In an attempt to ramp up the Hyderabad centre, it is in the process of deepening its product development capabilities for better integration with the parent’s R&D centre in Namyang (Hwaseong, South Korea), which serves both Hyundai and Kia brands.As the Hyderabad R&D unit becomes increasingly important for Hyundai’s global network, the company is also considering setting up an automotive proving ground in India to carry out full-fledged vehicle testing.

While the passenger car platforms for India are currently designed and developed at Namyang, Hyderabad contributes in integrating vehicle platforms with parts and features designed for the local market. Last month, the parent company had announced the introduction of VR design evaluation system at the Namyang R&D centre. As part of its plan to infuse KRW 15 billion ($12.8 million), the new VR-enabled systems would help cut down the annual product development costs by 15% for Hyundai and Kia, boost profitability and achieve a 20% reduction in vehicle development time. Hyundai plans to establish remote VR design assessment capabilities across its strategic R&D centres, including in India, for real-time virtual collaboration between teams across geographies.