Hyundai Motor India Ltd is looking forward to a steady growth path, as profits rose for the second straight quarter on the back of higher rural sales, growing exports and rising sales of high-margin sports utility vehicles (SUV). The company expects the growth momentum to continue in the March quarter, with its upgraded Venue SUV already securing more than 80,000 bookings.

The Indian arm of the Korean carmaker recorded its highest-ever share of sales from rural areas at 24%, with cuts to goods and services tax (GST) powering sales during the quarter. Exports were up 21% to 48,888, with one in four Hyundai vehicles shipped abroad. Along with an increase in the share of SUVs in its sales, Hyundai saw profits rise 6% from a year ago to ₹1,234 crore, while revenue rose 8% to ₹18,217 crore.

According to managing director and chief executive Tarun Garg, the implementation of GST reforms brought greater clarity and stability to the indirect tax framework. "This, coupled with interest rate cuts, significantly improved customer buying sentiments and brought in a renewed wave of optimism," Garg said at a post-earnings press conference.

"Importantly, structural shifts in consumer preferences continued to further strengthen with increasing adoption of SUVs, growing acceptance of new technologies and a clear preference for higher value and feature-rich products," Garg said at the call, his first since taking over as the first Indian MD and CEO of the company on 1 January.

Hyundai India saw four straight year-on-year quarterly losses between Q2 FY25 and Q1 FY26, before entering the profit path in the September quarter.

Peer performance

Hyundai is the second carmaker to announce earnings, after India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Maruti Suzuki recorded a 4% year-on-year rise in profit after tax to ₹3,879 crore, hit by a one-time provision of ₹593 crore owing to the new labour code. Revenue during the quarter surged 28% to ₹50,959 crore on the back of the highest-ever quarterly sales of 667,769 units.

Hyundai, which lost its No.2 carmaker tag by sales in 2025 to Mahindra and Mahindra, is bullish on growth on the back of policy and market developments. Shares rose 1.54% against a 2.13% gain in Nifty Auto on Monday, when it announced the results during the market hours.

"By leveraging opportunities from the new Venue and exploring new markets, we are confident of sustaining growth momentum in Q4 and beyond," Garg said.

For Hyundai, which is facing intense competition from Mahindra and Tata Motors, a large share of incremental sales growth is coming from exports. Sales to international markets grew 21% to 48,888 against just a 0.4% growth to 146,548 units in the domestic market during the October to December quarter.

In India, Hyundai saw its fuel and product mix largely remaining stable during the quarter as compared to last year. The share of SUVs was at 70% in domestic sales, up one percentage point from a year ago. Internal combustion vehicles made up 83% of sales, down from 85%. Share of EVs stood at 1%, with the company having only two electric vehicles models Creta Electric and Ioniq 5.

With proposed emission norms coming in from April 2027 next year, the company notes that it will steadily increase the penetration of clean fuel vehicles in its portfolio.

"If you see a CNG mix, the CNG mix in our range has been continuously going up. In quarter three, we had 16% CNG penetration, which was the highest ever quarterly CNG mix. Correspondingly, you know, we were hovering around 14-15% last year. Now we are at 16%. And in fact, it is continuously going up," Garg said.

The top executive added that the company's plans are in place to introduce new electric vehicles and other clean fuel vehicles which will put it in place to meet future emission norms.

Other growth drivers for the company would include its rising rural penetration, along with entry into the taxi segment, where it will be making a new fleet of cars targeted for commercial operations.

Hyundai is aligning its growth with the industry's projection of 5-6% volumes growth in the next financial year. "We are also sticking with that industry growth. So, I think our model mix is well positioned to grab all the opportunities which are coming up because of the GST cut," Garg said.

"), pointer; position: relative; box-shadow: none !important;">"Another thing which we mentioned was the taxi, which has received some great responses. Of course, it is only one month, but the initial response is very good. I think that will also help us to get more volumes going."