NEW DELHI: After two years of solid growth, the Indian passenger vehicles market is likely to slip into a slowdown in 2024 with sales expected to remain flat as higher interest rates and negative impact of global factors will keep consumer demand subdued, Tae-Jin Park -- the MD & CEO of Kia in India – said on Thursday.
Park, who launched the next-gen version of Kia’s mini SUV Sonet, said the slowdown will mean that competition in the market will get intense, and there could be a halt in the frequent price hikes that the car industry has witnessed over the past two years.
“There is a possibility of a serious impact on Indian consumer sentiment due to higher interest rates. The higher rates may also impact the Indian economy,” Park told TOI while signalling an aggressive stance from Kia on the front of electrics and new models.
The Indian passenger vehicles industry is expected to sell a record 4-million-plus units this year, with a substantial demand coming in for premium vehicles costing above Rs 10 lakh.

Park said Kia has been working on plans to strengthen its existing petrol/diesel portfolio, while preparing for locally-made electrics from 2025. “We plan to introduce competitively-positioned electrics as we begin local manufacturing. We are also looking at exporting the cars to markets in Africa, Middle-East and North America where we currently ship our current ICE models.”
Park said that the total EV market in India is likely to grow to one million units by 2030, which will be nearly 20% of the estimated 5-million strong market.