Shown above is an automotive plant of Kia, a sister company of Hyundai Motor, in South Korea. Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Korean automaker strives to join global top 3 in EV

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor announced on April 11 that it would invest $18 billion in electric vehicles by 2030 to join the top three list in the world.

The company announced the plan during the groundbreaking ceremony of its sister firm Kia’s dedicated plant for purpose-built vehicle production in South Korea.

Through the investment, Hyundai said that it would expand its annual EV production to 1.51 million in Korea and 3.64 million globally by the end of this decade.

In 2030, Hyundai expected that it would have a total lineup of 31 EV models, including automobiles from Hyundai, Kia, and the luxury brand Genesis.

For example, Kia plans to launch EV9, its first three-row seat electric SUV, this year, and Hyundai Motor is scheduled to bring about the Ioniq 7 next year.

The large-scale investments would enable Hyundai to become one of the world’s three largest EV makers in the globe, according to Hyundai. Consultancy SNE Research recently said that Hyundai’s ranking in the global EV market was No. 7 in 2022, with a market share of 4.7 percent.

“This will enhance integrated marketability across hardware and software, including diversification of dedicated platform product lineups, advancement of power electric systems that are key to EV performance, such as batteries and motors, and development of technologies to increase all-electric range on a single charge,” a Hyundai official said.

“Activities will be undertaken to accelerate the development of next-generation platforms to improve the performance of EVs,” it said. “Platforms using the integrated modular architecture can standardize batteries and motors to increase product development speed and efficiency.”

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Hyundai Chairman Chung Eui-sun took part in the event.

“The global automotive market faces a large paradigm shift. To help our companies cope with such fast changes, the government will not save any support in research and tax policies,” Yoon said.
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