Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q2 and H1 FY 2026 earnings conference call of Hyundai Motor India Limited. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nishit Jalan from Axis Securities. Thank you, and over to you.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and welcome you all to Q2 and H1 FY 2026 earnings conference call of Hyundai Motor India Limited. From the management team today we have with us Mr. Unsoo Kim, Managing Director, Mr. Tarun Garg, Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Wangdo Hur , Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Gopala Krishnan C.S., Chief Manufacturing Officer, Mr. Saravanan T, Function Head Finance, and Mr. K.S. Hariharan, Head of Investor Relations from Hyundai Motor India Limited. Before we start, I would like to inform you that the call is being recorded and the audio call and transcript will be available at the company's website. I would now like to invite Mr. K.S. Hariharan, Head of Investor Relations, to start the call. Over to you, Mr. Hari.
Thank you, Nishit. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Q2 and H1 financial year 2026 earnings call. Before we begin, I want to remind you of the safe harbor we may be making. Some forward-looking statements have to be understood in conjunction with the uncertainties and the risks that the company faces. The conference call will begin with our MD remarks on the performance and outlook, followed by a brief presentation by me on Q2 performance, after which we will be happy to receive your questions. Now I hand over to our MD. Over to you, sir.
Thank you, Hari. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the second quarter earnings conference call for the financial year 2026. At the outset, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone for showing great interest in HMIL's first ever Investor Day. We successfully concluded our Investor Day showcasing strategic roadmap till 2030. Our global CEO's participation reinforced HMC's unwavering confidence in India's potential and HMIL's contribution to the group's global ambition. In the words of our global CEO, India is not just important to Hyundai's global strategy. India is the Hyundai's global strategy. GST 2.0 marks a transformative milestone and brings renewed wave of optimism, one that fuels growth, enhances the ease of doing business, and strengthens consumer confidence. It is a reform that sets the tone for sustained industry momentum, including empowering millions of customers by making personal mobility more affordable and accessible.
Following the implementation of GST reforms, the Indian automobile industry witnessed a strong wave of demand momentum. This led to a positive shift in customer sentiments coupled with improved affordability, which translated into remarkable surge in sales in the last week of the quarter, partially offsetting the muted demand amid postponement of buying by the customers. It is overwhelming that these macro tailwinds have come at a most opportune time for HMIL, coinciding with our Pune plant expansion and product launch cycle, which will further reinforce our commitment to accelerate. Talking about the domestic sales performance during the quarter, sales volume improved sequentially by nearly 6% propelled by GST reforms and vibrant festival boost during the quarter. HMIL marked domestic SUV sales penetration as 71%, highest ever since inception. Rural market continues to be one of the key pillars of our domestic growth strategy.
Our focused efforts in terms of channel expansion and deeper market penetration along with targeted marketing initiatives are yielding positive outcomes, with rural sales contribution further inched up during the quarter reaching a record high of nearly 24%. Exports continue its robust momentum during the quarter with nearly 22% growth on year-on-year basis. We are witnessing strong demand attraction in our key export markets, with Middle East and Africa recording a remarkable volume growth of 35% and Mexico recorded a growth of 11%. Going forward, we expect to leverage our new plant capacity and new product launches to sustain this growth momentum. HMIL remains committed to advancing the vision of Make in India and driving inclusive growth across the mobility ecosystem. We will continue to benefit from the synchronized growth of domestic and export markets fueling our two-pronged growth strategy.
Coming to the margins, we deliver yet another quarter of a strong EBITDA margin performance at 13.9% with favorable product and export mix along with cost optimization efforts. With the commencement of vehicle production operations in the Pune plant from this month, the incremental cost impact may weigh on profitability in near terms. However, we are confident that we will minimize the above impact and secure healthy margins through better operating efficiency and cost control measures. On the domestic front, we aim to keep pace with the industry growth momentum for the residual part of this year. While our strong export performance is set to surpass targets for financial year 2026, we are gearing ourselves for the much-awaited launch of the all-new Hyundai VENUE on 4th of November .
The new VENUE truly embodies our vision of a tech upgrade, going beyond, offering a driving experience that is both dynamic and deeply connected to our customers' evolving lifestyles. We believe it will be a catalyst in fortifying Hyundai's leadership and expanding our stronghold in the company's SUV segment. To conclude, we are focused on sustained growth by leveraging GST-driven optimism, executing our product launch plan effectively, and strengthening our on-ground efforts to capture the emerging opportunities. This synergy is poised to reinforce our competitiveness and accelerate our growth trajectory. Thank you so much. Now I hand over to Hari again.
Thank you, sir. Let me now explain about our business and financial performance. First of all, we are truly excited about the upcoming launch of the all-new VENUE on 4th of November . We are confident that with an upgraded design, cutting edge features, and class leading safety, the all-new VENUE will redefine customer convenience and set new benchmarks in the compact SUV segment. Talking about business highlights, we continue to carry out product interventions across segments and models. So far in the first half of financial year 2026, we have executed 20 + interventions. This strategy helps us in maintaining market competitiveness, aligning with evolving consumer preferences. Our SUV portfolio now contributes to more than 70% in volumes this quarter. The demand for SUVs continues to be robust, particularly in the wake of GST reforms.
This reform unlocks growth opportunities for Hyundai, especially in entry and subcompact SUVs like EXTER and VENUE, which offer perfect balance of aspirations and affordability. As already highlighted by our MD, rural sales continue to grow for HMI and we have achieved highest ever rural penetration of 23.6% during the quarter. During the quarter, we concluded the wage settlement agreement with the recognized union for the period 2024-2027, which sets a new benchmark in the automotive industry and reflects our shared commitment to fostering a progressive workplace culture that prioritizes employee welfare and supports long term organizational growth. We are also happy to share that in line with our commitment, we commenced vehicle production operations at our Pune plant from 1st of October , a strategic step to support our future growth plans.
Moving on to sales performance for the quarter, we achieved total sales of 190,921 vehicles in Q2 financial year 2026 as compared to 191,939 vehicles in the same period last year. In the domestic market, we sold 139,521 vehicles as compared to 149,639 vehicles in the same quarter last year. Exports played a key role in sustaining overall volumes during the quarter. Our exports grew by 21.5% year-on-year, driven by strong demand in emerging markets. The consistent upward trajectory in our export volumes reflects the global competitiveness of our product portfolio and underscores HMI 's strategic importance as HMC 's global manufacturing hub. A shining example of Make in India, made for the world on a sequential basis. We saw growth in both domestic and export markets during the quarter, reflecting our dual engine growth strategy.
Moving on to volume mix for the quarter, both urban and rural markets continue to witness strong traction in ACV volumes. Hatchback reported decline, whereas sedan volumes increased marginally on a year-on-year basis. Coming to the fuel mix, we observed strong traction in both diesel and CNG powertrains. Diesel accounts for 23% of our volumes, while CNG contributes 15% during the quarter. Now coming to the financial highlights for the quarter, our revenue from operations stood at INR 174,608 million in Q2 financial year 2026 as against INR 172,604 million in Q2 of the previous year. EBITDA for the quarter stood at INR 24,289 million as compared to INR 22,053 million in Q2 financial year 2025. We were able to deliver strong EBITDA margins at 13.9% as compared to 12.8% in Q2 financial year 2025.
EBIT stood at INR 19,114 million in Q2 of financial year 2026 as against INR 16,868 million in Q2 last year. EBIT margin was at 10.9% as compared to 9.8% in the same quarter last year. PAT for the quarter was INR 15,723 million as against INR 13,755 million in Q2 of financial year 2025. We delivered a strong PAT margin of 8.9% as against 7.9% in Q2 of last financial year. This reflects our continued focus on operational efficiency and margin enhancement. Talking about the drivers of margins on a year-on-year basis, the improved margins are attributed to favorable product and export mix coupled with cost reduction efforts. On a sequential basis, the key margin drivers were better volumes, product mix, amongst others. This concludes my presentation. Thank you all for your time and attention. Now we open the floor for Q& A. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and 1 on the Touchstone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and 2. Participants are requested to use handsets while asking a question. Please note that management might use English Korean translation for better communication. Hence, there could be a slight delay in the responses. Please note the management line will be on mute mode till then. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. We'll take the first question from the line of Chandramouli Muthiah from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening and thank you for taking my questions. My first question is just on the festive season. Just want to understand what growth Hyundai would have registered in wholesale and retail terms to the festive season, and how you're thinking about potential momentum post festive season on the balance of the fiscal year.
Thank you for your question. If you see the festive season, we count the festive season from 1st Navratri to Diwali, which was 22nd September- 23rd October , which was the end of Bhai Dooj. Retails actually grew by 23%. When we do a deep dive into which segments, hatch segments grew by 16%, sedan grew by 47%, SUVs grew by 21%. More importantly, EXTER plus VENUE grew by 28%. In the festive season, we very clearly saw that EXTER and VENUE grew at the same time. As you know, VENUE was seeing this transformation from old to new. We had some limitation in terms of the old VENUE stock, so we lost out on that. Very clearly, the festive and the GST is giving a big impetus to the VENUE and EXTER segment, and the 4th November launch of VENUE should help.
The other way to look at it is how September plus October retail compares to January to August. When we see that, the growth was about 20%. Hatches 23%, sedan 11%, SUV is 21%, and EXTER plus VENUE again 31%. A very strong growth registered in the festive season as well as in September and October versus January to August. Thank you.
Does that answer your question?
Yes, yes. I just have one follow-up question on the product pipeline that you had shared with us on the Investor Day. That is very useful. Just want to understand how you're thinking about rough timing of the NPV, the off-roader, and the localized electric compact SUV. If you could give us some sense on rough timing when you potentially plan to bring those products to customers. Thank you.
Actually, we shared a lot of stuff on the Investor Day, so my request is, I mean, let's stick to that. The third question was answered by José. The EV, we mentioned 2027. So, calendar 2027, we mentioned EV will be launched. I think let's stick to that because we have already shared a lot of information on the Investor Day. We don't have anything further to add on that. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that management is able to answer queries from all participants, kindly restrict your questions to two at a time. You may join back the queue for follow up questions. Next question is from the line of Kapil Singh from Nomura. Please go ahead.
Good evening, sir. Congratulations on a strong performance and what I think was a very tough quarter. Firstly, sir, on the margins, you know, we are pretty close to our upper end of the margin guidance. I just want to understand what are the reasons that management has been conservative in giving margin guidance for the future. You know capacity will grow from here and are there company specific factors or these are like industry specific factors because of which, you know, you think which will. Factors which will affect the entire industry. Because of which you are conservative on margin outlook. If you could also give a breakdown in terms of commodity costs and discounts for the quarter, what was the impact?
Thanks, Kapil. Kapil, if you look at on the margin front, of course this quarter, once again we had delivered strong performance. We need to understand that when we get into the Pune phase, the production we have already started, obviously we are looking at some incremental cost, especially in terms of depreciation, labor cost, and factory overheads.
So.
These elements will have some pressure on the margins for some time in the initial period. As we move forward, we are expecting to ramp up our production and the sales volumes we have already indicated. We are also looking at export as a very good opportunity in the future. All these things should definitely support us to secure healthy margins going forward. That is one second thing. On the commodity, as you asked, commodity, we had some pressure in some of the items during the last quarter. However, what we were able to do, see, we have been doing this cost optimization efforts through our localization and other value engineering activities. These efforts have helped us to keep the material cost under check during the last quarter. Going forward, still, we expect some pressure may be there in some of the commodities.
Again, the point is that as we are continuously working on other mitigation efforts for cost optimization, we believe that we'll be able to manage the situation. On the discount part, see sequentially, if you look at, we had seen some moderation in the discounts, especially if you see domestic. Our discount during the last quarter was 3.2% of ASP. This is despite the market condition. As you already know, the industry has been giving further price cuts over and above the GST cuts. We were able to follow a disciplined approach on the discounting front. Hope I have answered your queries.
Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. The second question is, when we look at the market share outlook going ahead for the company, because we have seen some dip in market share, at least in the VAHAN data, can you talk about what are the factors that have affected it? Is it the model changeovers or any other supply constraints you are facing? When we look at the second part of the year or period going forward, how should we think about your market share?
Yes, thank you for your question. As you know, and as I mentioned, the VENUE is the second highest volume grocer for us and obviously on the retail front we were constrained by the availability of VENUE because the launch is on 4th November and retails will happen post that. Obviously, we had a little bit of a gap there. As you saw in the Investor Day very clearly, the new 26 model pipeline starts from the VENUE. We believe very strongly that this is the time when we will start kind of not losing market share. November onwards we expect to really grow with the industry going forward and aided not only by the model cycle but also, of course, the interventions which we are going to make in terms of even local interventions.
You will see that even in the last six months we made some 20 odd interventions. We will continue to make those interventions. Rural is going strong. I think there are enough headwinds, enough tailwinds for us to now come back on the growth path. At the same time, what you must appreciate is that even in the not so good model cycle we were able to limit our discounts. We did not join the price war. You saw that pre-GST, there were OEMs who offered the customers the post-GST price. We refrained from doing that. Post-GST, some OEMs cut the price over and above the GST cut. We refrained from doing that. Right from the IPO time we have maintained that we believe in quality of sales, we believe in the balance between volume and profit, we believe in the balance between domestic and export.
I think all that is reflected in our margins and our results since then. I think the approach will remain the same. To answer your specific question, the new VENUE should help us to get back into the growth phase starting November. Thank you. I hope I answered your question, Kapil.
Yes, thanks. I look forward to the launch and best wishes.
Thank you. Thank you, Kapil.
Next question is from the line of Amyn Pirani from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Yes, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. My question was on the continuous improvement that we have seen in your material costs. You have talked about localization in the past, but are there any specific things that you can help us to understand as to how you are able to drive this gross margin improvement and how should we think about the reductions and the cost savings in material cost going forward as to how much more should we expect in the coming, say, one or two years?
Thanks, Amyn. Yes, as you rightly mentioned, material is something clearly we have done a lot of activities. In fact, if you look at during this quarter on basis point, we have seen 110 basis points improvement on the profitability, mainly supported by material cost reduction. What we are doing is that one is the localization. Of course, as you know, last time also we indicated last year the localization level was somewhere around 78%. Today we stand at somewhere around 82%. That is one. Second thing is that it is not only tier 2, tier 1 level, we are also looking at tier 2 level as a potential opportunity for improving the localization. This is one. Apart from localization, we also do a lot of value engineering activities at the plant operations. That also helps us to take care of some of the cost reduction activities.
Localization is one, second is value engineering. These two are some of the major drivers for us in terms of controlling the material cost.
Yeah, adding to that, while we localizing the parts which giving leverage for the processing cost reduction during localization, we give a very strong focus on value engineering. During the process of localization, we do a process audit. We thoroughly study the processes and we do process optimization and we try to implement the best practices across the plant, global plants and also from our mother plant, which improve the overall yield and also gives an opportunity for us to demand a better price from the vendors. This value engineering is a continuous process. I can give a few examples. How can you optimize the route optimization or how can you optimize the packing? We have a simulation tool by which we can improve the packing.
Two examples. One is the route optimization or packing improvement through simulations. These kinds of continuous value engineering activities gives us leverage to reduce the material cost.
That's very helpful. Just a follow up on that, your localization is currently 82% like you mentioned. Over the next, you know, four to eight quarters theoretically, is it possible for you to reach 85% or even higher levels? I just want to get a sense as to how much of localization is possible, and just another question and after that I'll come back in the queue. If you can also highlight what was the royalty number for the quarter. Thank you.
Yeah. With a strong dedicated localization team, we are co-working with all our stakeholders including the HMC headquarters and HMI R&D. Our aim is to reach 90% by FY 2030. Our focus is on high technology parts, for example, the electrical insense, hardware, premium car parts, some electronic parts. Going forward, we're also looking for deep localization till tier 3.
On the question of royalty during the quarter, royalty was 2.8%.
2.8%. Okay, thank you.
Thank you. We'll take our next question from the line of Arvind Sharma from Citi. Please go ahead.
Hi, good evening sir. Thank you for taking my question. My first question would be your view on the recent issue around Nexperia. Is this something that you are seeing as a possible impediment to growth or disruption in production? That was the first question.
Thank you so much for the question. If you look at the Nexperia component issue, it is an industry-wide issue. Right. There is no doubt as far as HMI is concerned, what we are doing is we are constantly monitoring the inventory situation. We are also closely working with our vendor partners to mitigate this impact so that we can have uninterrupted production and other plant operations.
Right. So Hari, is there something that would impact near term or it's not yet a concern as of now.
As of now we are not facing much challenges because we have some inventory for near term. This will be a continuous process for us to review and align our countermeasures so that we can have seamless production at the operations.
Sure. Thanks. Second question would be on the exports part. You had given a guidance in last quarter given where the export trends have been in the first half. What would be the guidance for the full year? If you could share FY 2026.
Exports have been quite strong for us in recent times. In Q2, as we had indicated, we had grown by 22% nearly on the export side. The momentum is good. In fact, we are seeing very strong demand for our products across regions. As our MD had also indicated in the opening remarks, Middle East and Africa have seen growth of 35%. Mexico again has grown by 11%. This momentum should continue for us in the near term, though it is difficult to give specific volume guidance. What we believe is that by the end of this financial year we will be in a position to exceed the guidance we had originally indicated during the beginning of the year.
All right, sir. While not giving number, the 7%- 8% guidance.
Yeah, we indicated 7%- 8% originally if you remember. We expect that we will be in a position to exit that number.
The present participant's line is disconnected. We'll move on to the next question from Binay from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi team. Congratulations for good set of earnings. I have two questions both for the second half. Firstly, it's good to see discount trending down. Is that how do you expect that trend to play out for the domestic market into the December quarter, because you do have a new product launch? Ideally, fair to assume that the discount trend should continue with downward trajectory.
Binay, look, we have maintained that we believe in quality of sales. There are definite tailwinds in terms of the industry tailwinds, especially the GST. Of course, there are headwinds for the industry. I mean, I don't want to repeat. You would know better than me. We believe that we should be able to. I mean this is probably the maximum discount level. I mean this is what I can tell you. The new VENUE is being launched on the 4th of November, which should help us to reduce discount. At the same time, we will need to be very watchful going forward, how the industry landscape is panning out and how we are able to have a good balance between volume and profit. Yes, it seems that the discounts for us have peaked out. Yeah, thank you.
I think that's fair. That's a good comment. Secondly, in the opening remark we talked about the incremental impact of the new plant. How long or how many quarters do you expect that to last? You know, or by when do you see that, what sort of a capacity utilization rate in the new plant? You need to reach that margin trajectory. It does not have a drag on margins.
If you look at it, yes, of course, we have started our vehicle production from this month, October. We are looking at the major incremental cost would come from three elements. One is depreciation, labor, and overheads. What we expect is that around 20%- 25% there should be increase in the cost of these elements as compared to the level we are currently having in Chennai plant. These cost elements, of course, will have some pressure as I already indicated for some time because we are again bringing the VENUE model from this plant. We are pretty confident that we should be in a position to recover our volumes as far as VENUE is concerned. Plus, also, we will be focusing strongly on the export markets as well.
Though it is difficult to give a guidance specifically about the timelines, generally we expect that we will be able to maintain healthy margins once these things are streamlined.
Great, great. Lastly, just one question on the CAFE norms. The CAFE-III , any update you are getting from the government? When do we expect the final notification on that?
We are in discussion with Siam. We are still awaiting the final notification on the CAFE-III . Thank you.
Okay, great, great. Thanks, team.
Thank you. Take the next question from the line of Gunjan Prithyani from Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for taking my questions. First question is clarification on the comment that you made on the constrained availability of VENUE. Can you share where the channel inventory is right now for you guys? The numbers that you shared on the festive sales, I assume those were for Hyundai. Is there a number that you can share for the industry as well? Because these numbers somehow are not similar to what we see on VAHAN. Maybe if you can just help us explain. Is there an element which is not being captured on VAHAN registrations?
You have to understand that because from 15th August-22nd September , nobody could wholesale, nobody could retail. Everything got piled up. Normally there is not so much of a difference between VAHAN and retail and wholesale, but because of all this piling up, what happened was there was a logistics challenge, there was a capacity challenge, retail challenge. My point is that we need to be slightly patient. I believe that this lag between VAHAN and retail will continue for probably one more month and only at the end of November will we know what was the actual situation. This is a very unique situation where for 37 days basically customers postponed the purchase and then everybody wanted a car suddenly. This is one. The second is on the VENUE. We are more or less done with the old VENUE stock.
Hardly we have any vehicles, a few hundred vehicles in the factory and a couple of thousand vehicles in the network. Of course, because of that, what happened was the old VENUE stock was not available at many dealerships and that is why we probably lost out on the opportunity. We believe this is a short-term pain for long-term gain because the new VENUE is coming in full force on 4th of November and I'm sure you would have seen the pictures and all. The initial response we are getting is very, very good. On 4th of November , stay tuned because we'll be sharing a lot of things including the price and the features and the bookings received, etc.
Also.
So.
Thank you. I hope I've answered your question.
This is clear. I think just overall channel inventory would have also run low, I'm assuming, given that there was this sudden surge in logistics constraints as you mentioned. At an overall level, it's fair to assume that we are very, very low on the stock for the rest of the models.
Yes. If you see the inventory, if you see the last six months, the channel inventory was about, say, five weeks. Now we are running at about three, three and a half weeks of channel inventory, including transit. Yes, the channel inventory has come down, but this is very normal. After every festival, the channel inventory comes down, and before every festival, the channel inventory is high. I don't read too much into it. It is always healthy when the channel inventory comes down, which means there is hunger in the system to take more. Thank you.
The second question is on the plant, the new plant, that thing very similar to what Binay asked when you, you know, it's now commissioned. If we were to think about the ramp up and I'm not really looking for a timeline as to when the ramp up happens, just trying to understand the thought process that a complete new model is still some time away. How do you think the ramp up of the new plant happens? Is it going to be some of the models, let's say for example, new VENUE or an EXTER, which is not right now to its full potential. We start sort of manufacturing it in the new plant and we expect a step up in the volumes of the existing models and maybe exports, which you've spoken about earlier. Any thoughts on how this whole new plant ramp up happens?
What are these sort of models or transitioning of existing models or maybe, you know, exploring new markets for exports. What is it going to happen in the next six, nine months till we have a completely new model in the portfolio?
Look, it's a very difficult question to answer. I can give you a very general answer that it is about a short-term pain for a long-term gain. Please understand, a new plant has come in. Obviously, it's a very natural phenomenon for some kind of a time gap. My request to you is be patient. I think what we have demonstrated in the past is our ability to really make innovations. For example, last one year was very tough for us in the domestic market. We were able to step up on the exports. For example, last year was very tough in terms of price cuts and discounts. We refrained from that temptation to buy market share or buy volume at that cost.
I think we will make all kinds of efforts to increase exports, to increase the existing models, to increase the VENUE sales and increase the all model sales also. I know this is a general answer, but I think we have spoken enough on this. You have to also appreciate that beyond this it is very difficult to give you specifics on how the specific margins will be affected or how the specific capacity utilization for the plants will happen in the next six to nine months. We will continue to make all the efforts to improve it at the fastest possible pace. Thank you.
All right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we request you to restrict to two questions at a time, please. Next question is from the line of Vipul Agrawal from HSBC. Please go ahead.
Thank you for taking my question. My first question is on the.
I'm sorry to interrupt.
Your volume is very low.
Can you hear me now? Is it better?
Yes, better. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you for taking my question. May I request you to comment on anything in customer behavior post GST 2.0, like any sense on improvement in share of first time buyers or variant upgrades by customer support GST 2.0, and what will be the share of first time buyers for Hyundai ?
If you see yesterday, I think there's an independent survey which was conducted by news agency PTI. 80% of the car buyers post GST surveyed said that they use the tax relief to switch to a better model, brand, or premium add-ons during the festive season post GST 2.0 implementation. The report also suggests that SUVs remain the most popular choice amongst the buyers. Also, more than 60% of buyers plan to upgrade to higher variants within the same brand, and 46% have already shifted from hatchbacks to SUVs. This is an independent third-party report. I already shared that for Hyundai. Very clearly VENUE and EXTER look to be the maximum gainers from this GST shift. If you talk about first time buyers, I think it's too early. It's only 37 days. We do this survey after every one month, so you have to wait for it.
Generally, the first time buyers for Hyundai have increased from 29% five years back to about 40% now. We continue to see a great traction for the first time buyers which is very good because if you see from an ASP perspective it is going up for Hyundai. From a SUV-isation perspective it is going up for Hyundai. We are still able to attract the first time buyers which means our value proposition is really in, you know, in very strong affinity to the young and trendy modern buyers. We believe the new VENUE will further add to this kind of a momentum. As of now I think this is what I can share with you and I hope I've answered your question. Thank you.
My second question is on what is the trend between the three categories, Compact UV, UV1, and UV2 category. Between VENUE and EXTER category, CRETA category, and Mahindra Scorpio 700 category whose GST cut, do you think now UV, Compact UV category, and the large UV2 category will grow faster than the category because of the GST changes? Any trend you are seeing over there?
There's no data. I mean, how do I know? Because the data will be shared after 10th of November, you know. I think let's be patient. Broadly for us, if I see September plus October projected numbers, SUVs have grown by 21%, sedans in retails have grown by 11%, hatches have grown by 23%, and within SUVs, EXTER plus VENUE have grown by 31%. We are seeing a strong traction for the CRETA also. As of now, it appears that it will be the compact SUVs like VENUE which will see a maximum growth. Other SUVs are also seeing a strong traction. I think we need to be more patient and not only for October numbers. I think at least let us see two to three months to see the real customer pulse on how each segment is behaving post the GST cut. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you. Next question is from the line of Raghunandhan NL from Nuvama Research. Please go ahead.
Thank you, sir. Congratulations on strong margin performance and festive greetings, sir. My first question is there is an increase in other operating income by 31% QoQ to INR 305 crore. Can you indicate if it includes any state government incentive, and will it continue going forward?
Yes, Raghu. If you look at sequential basis, the increase is mainly due to two reasons. One is, again, we have seen sequential growth in export volumes, so that gives us a better duty drawback and other export incentives. The second thing is the Tamil Nadu incentives. You know that, right? The MOU incentive normally accrues for us from the mid of August or end of August like that. That is also another reason for the increase in this other operating revenue going forward. Of course, the incentive will continue, Tamil Nadu incentive. We also will be accruing the Maharashtra incentive from the month of October.
Thank you. Thank you, Hari, for that. My second question is on hybrids. Considering that there are no significant subsidy benefits like what EV has, how do you ensure that cost of ownership for hybrids will match with ICEs? If you can give some color, when is the first launch expected?
Like we mentioned in the Investor Day, our global CEO mentioned a very strong plan and the might of the Hyundai Motor Group in terms of supporting the HMI . Our plan is not limited to one powertrain. You saw a very healthy EVs, he mentioned five EVs, a lot of hybrids, lot of CNGs. We believe India is a very big country. Going forward we have opportunities in all powertrains globally. If you see EVs are also doing well. Hybrids have seen a very strong growth. I think our timing for hybrids has been planned in a way where we believe that the customer preference would shift towards hybrids. Today, if you see we don't have hybrids and the market is not really growing for hybrids, in fact, last year hybrid penetration contribution was 2.5%. EV was also 2.5%. EVs have increased to 6% in August.
Hybrids remain at 2.5%. It shows that Hyundai strategy is very right, that we are right now focusing on EVs, you know, and very strongly, like José mentioned 2027, we will come out with a fully dedicated EV for us, you know, which will give us more traction. Going forward, we believe there will be a strong market and the cost of ownership. Everything else should take care of itself. I cannot really comment on what kind of incentives government will give or not give. We believe that the customer there is, there will be enough customers down the line for all kinds of technologies. We will be offering the customers all kind of options, whether it is hybrid, EV, CNG or any other powertrain. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Just a clarification. Within hybrid, you would look at all possibilities as well: plug-in, strong, range, extended.
Look, we gave a lot of information. My request to all of you is that let's limit to what we gave in the Investor Day so that for fairness for everybody. I don't have any further comment on adding to the Investor Day what kind of hybrids are going to come. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you, sir. We'll wait for the details.
Thank you, our next question from the line of Pramod Kumar from UBS Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks a lot for the opportunity sir. Asking this question from a strategic perspective, not looking for exact specifics or timeline, but given the very high CapEx what we are planning to invest on R&D as catered in the Investor Day, what are the kind of capabilities what you are aiming to build here over the longer term? You have pretty high localization levels. If you can just help us understand what are the kind of technological capabilities what Hyundai Motor India will kind of build with these kind of elevated CapEx, which will help us understand how much, as in how critical these are, and what kind of global capabilities it gives you for export market as well, and also in terms of filling any product portfolio gap or technology gap.
If you can just help us understand the kind of substantial amount of money, what all capabilities the listed entity will kind of have under its belt.
Okay, if you look at the midterm guidance, what we have given is INR 45,000 crore. First of all, we need to understand the major activities where we are planning to spend. Out of this INR 45,000 crore, 40% would be for product-related investments. When I say product, it is basically for, we have already indicated about aggressive launch plan, right? Twenty-six launches over the next five years. That will obviously require investment into fixed assets like moulds, dies, etc. That is one. Another 40% would include mainly capacity expansion, localization, systemization, and other similar activities. This is a broad picture I would like to share. Of course, on the CapEx part going forward, obviously, see why we are investing all this money. Obviously, we are looking at, you know, a good amount of growth, whatever we have indicated in terms of volume, projection, market share, profitability.
All these things, of course, you know, are linked to the investment as well because when we are looking at growth aspirations, obviously it calls for investment as well. Hope I have clarified your query.
Hari, in terms of any plans of localizing battery chemistry or hybrid powertrain technology in India, I'm just trying to look at those aspects on the technological side, what all localization will happen here.
As we have discussed earlier also, this is a broader guidance. I think we'll be in a position to give to this level at this moment. We will be in a position to share more details in due course of time. I hope you understand this.
Fair enough. The second question is on the product pipeline timeline. Given the elevated spend, what we do and the kind of support we have from the global leadership for Hyundai Motor India’s plan, is it fair to assume that some of these launches could be ahead of what you called out in the Investor Day? Because that's what has been the track record of Hyundai even in the U.S. market where José Muñoz was heading the business right before taking up the global leadership roles. Is it fair to assume that we can expect faster product launches from Hyundai going forward?
I think let's stick to this Investor Day. Let's stick to again and again. I'm requesting whatever we have said on the Investor Day, let's stick to that. You already want us to deny what was said in the Investor Day and move ahead. I don't think we'd like to do that. Let's stick to what we have said in the Investor Day. There's a lot of information there. I think we have set a new industry benchmark in terms of information. My request is let's stick to that and wait for further guidance from us at an opportune time. Thank you.
Thanks a lot. Best of luck.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take that as the last question for today. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Nishit Jalan from Axis Capital for closing comments. Over to you.
Thank you, everyone. At this point, I'd like to thank the management for giving us the opportunity to host the call. With this, we conclude today's conference call. On behalf of Hyundai Motor India Limited, we thank you for joining the call and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you so much.
Thank you, everyone. You may now disconnect your lines.