Hyundai Motor India names Tarun Garg as new CEO, unveils $5 billion investment plan

Hyundai Motor India has named insider Tarun Garg as its chief executive, making him the first Indian to lead the automaker’s local operations, and unveiled a $5 billion investment plan to expand manufacturing and research capacity.

Garg will succeed Unsoo Kim, who has led Hyundai Motor India since 2022 and will return to South Korea at the end of the year to assume a strategic role at the parent company, Hyundai Motor Co, the Indian arm said late on Tuesday.

A Hyundai veteran since 1991, Kim oversaw the automaker’s landmark $3.3 billion IPO in 2024, the largest public offering in India to date.

The South Korean automaker, which entered India in 1996, is the country’s second-largest carmaker after Maruti Suzuki, with bestsellers such as the Creta, Venue, and i20.

Hyundai Motor India made the announcements ahead of its first investor day since the company’s market debut last year.

The company’s shares, which have climbed nearly 32% since their listing, have gained 33% so far in 2025 and traded largely flat on Wednesday.

Garg, a former Maruti Suzuki India executive who has been with Hyundai for six years, will take over as managing director and CEO in January 2026, the carmaker said.

The company said it plans to invest 450 billion rupees ($5.07 billion) by fiscal 2030 to boost capacity and strengthen research and development, allocating about 60% of the funds to R&D and the rest toward product upgrades and capacity expansion.

It also aims for double-digit core earnings margins of 11%–14% between fiscal 2026 and 2030, and projects a 7% compound annual growth rate in domestic sales over the next five years.