Hyundai, Kia to invest $300 mln in Indian ride-hailing firm

SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate, Kia Motors Corp., will invest a combined 338.4 billion won (US$300 million) in India's biggest ride-hailing firm, Ola, in their single biggest investment ever, Hyundai said Tuesday.

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors will invest $240 million and $60 million, respectively, in Ola to supply vehicles not only to the Indian company but also to advance the local car-rental and other fleet markets, Hyundai said in a statement.

Through partnership with Ola, Hyundai and Kia aim to provide electric vehicles to the ride-hailing firm and promote their "smart mobility solutions" in the local automotive markets, it said.

In India, demand for ride-hailing services is rapidly growing, with the number of car-hailing calls having jumped to 3.5 million in 2018 from 1 million in 2015, the statement said.

The investment comes after the carmakers invested $275 million in Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing app, Grab, last year.

Hyundai supplied 20 Kona electric vehicles to Grab in January and plans to provide 200 more electric cars for Grab's car-hailing services by the end of this year.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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