Officials from Hyundai Motor Group and the Los Angeles city government pose for a photo at the LA Comotion event in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 2019. (image: Hyundai Motor Group)
SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s top automaker, said Friday it has launched a mobility service venture company in Los Angeles to expand its presence in the future mobility market.
Hyundai said MoceanLab will provide mobility services there, starting with its pilot carsharing service. It plans to expand the service from autonomous ridesharing to multimodal transportation, according to the company.
Hyundai said MoceanLab aims to reduce traffic and increase convenience of customers by offering various transit options in Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Summer Olympics.
“More and more customers, including citizens of Los Angeles and tourists, will greatly benefit from MoceanLab as its service gradually covers a larger area of Los Angeles and diversifies its mobility services,” Yun Kyoung-lim, an executive vice president at Hyundai Motor Group, said.
“With such efforts, Hyundai Motor Group aims to lead the technology development for clean mobility.”
Electric vehicles in operation in Los Angeles account for 20 percent of overall EVs in the United States.
The number of startups involving public transportation is double the total of such ventures in New York. Los Angeles therefore has a more established business environment for mobility services than New York, the statement said.
MoceanLab is Hyundai’s latest effort to transform itself into a mobility solutions provider.
This year, Hyundai Motor Group made investments in car-hailing firms, like Ola and Grab. Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. injected $300 million in Ola and $250 million in Grab.
The group also joined hands with Ireland-based autonomous vehicle startup Aptiv to set up a US$4 billion joint venture next year to develop a self-driving platform.
Hyundai’s decision to work with Aptiv to form the 50:50 joint company, to be headquartered in Boston, is in line with such broad efforts. It is the single biggest overseas investment Hyundai has ever made.
(Yonhap)
