Business: Shares of Hyundai Motor India fell 2% in its market debut on Tuesday after the country's largest initial public offering (IPO) at a valuation of $3.3 billion. It opened at Rs 1,934 on the National Stock Exchange, falling below the offer price of Rs 1,960, and was last seen trading at Rs 1,920

Institutional oversubscription but limited retail participation

Although the IPO was listed more than twice, driven primarily by institutional investors, market participation was lackluster due to price concerns. The listing marked Hyundai's first IPO debut outside South Korea and comes amid a bullish trend in India's equity markets.

Market context and valuation concerns

Currently, Hyundai is the second largest automaker in India with a market share of 15%. Despite its latest IPO, analysts voiced concerns about its valuation. The company is valued at 26 times FY2024 earnings, matching market leader Maruti Suzuki's by 29 times. Previous big IPOs, such as that of Life Insurance Corporation and Paytm parent One97 Communications, have faced challenging commercial challenges first, emphasising the tendency toward greater reductions in enrollment.

"Hyundai's issue has been stiffly priced and that seems to be weighing down on its listing as well. Besides, the volumes seen so far are driven only by institutional investors, and is rather poor for an IPO of Hyundai's size," said Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kejriwal Research as quoted by news agency Reuters.

Competitors and market context

Shares of rivals Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors fell 2%, while the Nifty auto index fell 1.7%. Hyundai's market debut comes as car sales in India are slowing after two years of robust growth, with buyers hesitant over inflation concerns.