Hyundai’s Nexo hydrogen fuel cell car. (image: Hyundai Motor)
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest carmaker by sales, will transform itself into a smart mobility solutions provider, a top executive said Friday, in an ambitious plan to stay ahead of global competition in the auto industry.
Chung Eui-sun, vice chairman at Hyundai Motor, said hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and connected vehicles will be the four pillars of future mobility.
“The fourth Industrial revolution is upon us and… we should embrace this change. [It is a] change that will move us away from personal mobility to smart and shared mobility,” Chung said at the Move Summit, according to a live blog of India’s first global mobility summit posted at the website of the Financial Express, an Indian newspaper.
The global auto industry has been going through disruptive innovations in recent years, such as self-driving technology and booming car sharing businesses.
“Hyundai Motor will actively push to transform itself into a smart mobility solutions provider from an auto manufacture,” Chung said in comments provided by Hyundai Motor.
Chung also said Hyundai will launch three electric vehicles and its Nexo hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle in India, the world’s fourth-largest auto market, amid growing demand for zero-emission cars.
Global carmakers have been racing to go electric amid tightened regulations on emissions of greenhouse gases, which scientists say are to blame for global warming.
A Hyundai official said the company will release the all-electric version of its Kona subcompact SUV in India next year before unveiling two other electric vehicles in the world’s second-most populous country.
Hyundai said its hydrogen fuel cell Nexo has an estimated driving range of 609 kilometers (378 miles) on a five-minute fill-up.
(Yonhap)
