Hyundai India gets its first Indian CEO in Tarun Garg since Santro launch in 1999

Effective 1 January 2026, Tarun Garg will replace Unsoo Kim as Hyundai India CEO as Unsoo Kim is heading back to South Korea for a strategic role at the parent.

Updated on: Oct 15, 2025, 10:41:55 IST

By Tushar Deep Singh

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Tarun Garg has become the first Indian to lead Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd.'s India operations since the South Korean carmaker entered the subcontinent with the Santro in 1996.

Hyundai India MD & CEO Designate Tarun Garg. (Tushar Deep Singh/HT)

Effective 1 January 2026, Garg will replace Unsoo Kim as managing director and chief executive officer at Hyundai Motor India Ltd., as Kim is heading back to South Korea for a strategic role at the parent firm, according to an exchange filing on Wednesday.

The appointment is subject to shareholder approval. Between now and till the end of year, Garg will be MD & CEO designate.

Tarun Garg Profile

A mechanical engineer and graduate of IIM Lucknow, Garg started his career in 1994 as a management trainee at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. where he rose through the ranks to become executive director of marketing by 2019.

He joined Hyundai India as director (sales, marketing & service) in December 2019 and was promoted to chief operating officer in January 2023, according to his LinkedIn profile. It was under him and Unsoo Kim that Hyundai India launched India's largest IPO last year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tushar Deep Singh
Tushar Deep Singh is a business journalist and digital editorial leader with 12 years of experience in financial journalism. Currently Assistant Editor at Hindustan Times, he is building the HT Business vertical and managing the newsletters for both Livemint and HT. When not in the newsroom, he can be found on a motorcycle. Throughout his career, Tushar has been instrumental in scaling digital publishing operations at some of India’s largest financial news websites. His six-year tenure at Mint—the first job—saw him plunge into online media to deliver record-breaking digital engagement for Livemint.com, including 7.2 million page views on 2017 UP Election Results day. He held fort at Livemint during a senior-level leadership transition later that year. That won him the HT Media Star Award (Bronze) in 2017 and a Certificate of Appreciation for Editorial Excellence in 2018. As the head of the digital desk at ETtech, he curated two daily, full-stack newsletters from an editorial as well as product perspective. At NDTV Profit, he transitioned from website editor to principal correspondent, reporting on the auto sector for the TV channel and website, thereby adding yet another layer to his editorial expertise. He is a post-graduate in journalism from Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai, and a graduate from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad.Read More

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