New Hyunday R&D Center Opened in India

South-Korean manufacturer Hyundai opened a new research and development centre in India late last month. The new facility, which was completed after just over two years of construction, will serve as an important platform for the development of sub-compact cars in order to meet surging demand.

Located about 800 km northwest of Hyundai Motor India’s Chennai manufacturing plant, in the city of Hyderabad, the center will further emphasize the importance of the Indian market as one of Hyundai’s global main points for manufacturing and engineering of small cars.

The R&D center, spreading over 18,580 square meters, represents an investment of more than AU$27 million. This new research and development centre will also support all back-end operations like computer-aided engineering (CAE), computer-aided design (CAD) and support the R&D work taking place across Hyundai’s entire car line-up globally.

The centre currently employs about 300 engineers, and Hyundai plans to gradually increase this number, strengthening its operations further.

“Car manufacturers cannot compete in the long run without a globally co-ordinated approach to research and development,” said Kevin McCann, Hyundai Motor Company Australia’s Director of Sales and Marketing, in a statement for the press. “Hyundai has a long term, holistic vision for the future, and its new R&D centre in Hyderabad will play an integral role in that plan.”

Hyderabad is one of five Hyundai R&D centres around the world, the others being located in South Korea, the United States, Germany and Japan.