Hyundai Motor Group’s China Forward-looking Digital R&D Center landed in Shanghai.

On the morning of October 18th, Hyundai Motor Group held the opening ceremony of its China forward-looking digital R&D center at the Shimao Xuhui Centre in Shanghai. This marks the opening of the Group’s first overseas digital intelligent R&D center.

Located in Shanghai’s core CBD, the total investment of Hyundai Motor Group’s China forward-looking digital R&D center is approximately RMB 45 million yuan, with a total office space of about 5,200 square meters, accommodating over 300 employees. The R&D center will focus on four aspects: autonomous driving, connected technology, electrification, and shared mobility. In addition, there are six functional departments: Information and Entertainment New Technology Development Department, Unmanned Driving Development Department, UX Research Department, Hyundai Shanghai Styling Design Department, Kia Shanghai Styling Design Department, and Innovative Development Department.

In his speech, Lee Kwang-guk, President of Hyundai Motor Group (China), said that Hyundai will transform into a provider of intelligent mobility solutions, and mentioned the 4 key China strategies announced by Hyundai and Kia in April this year:

• Further strengthen localization research and development, launch high-quality products and services tailored for Chinese consumers;
• Introduce exclusive electric vehicle products that have been widely recognized in the global market into the Chinese market;
• Make full use of the Group’s leading global hydrogen fuel cell technology to assist China in the transformation to a hydrogen society;
• Actively invest in accordance with Chinese customer values and become a beloved brand for Chinese consumers.

The China forward-looking digital R&D center will play a key role in the Chinese R&D field, promoting local improvements of Hyundai’s global models, and utilizing China’s high-quality resources to further accelerate Hyundai Motor Group’s digital transformation.

Previously, Beijing Hyundai cooperated with Baidu to launch the third-generation intelligent networking system. Users can control most of the car’s hardware through “Xiaodu”. Compared to other brands, the Hyundai Group is one of the few traditional joint venture automakers willing to hand over vehicle permissions to third-party technology companies.

Hyundai says that Chinese customers not only have the most advanced concepts but also have the highest requirements. I have a friend who owns a tenth-generation Sonata, and he has high demands for the driving performance and intelligence of the car. He thinks that the current product performance is average and at the mainstream level of the same level of products, and the cost-effectiveness and appearance are the two important points that impressed him.

At present, Korean cars have a lukewarm performance in the domestic market. According to data statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the cumulative sales of Korean cars only accounted for 1.7% from January to September this year. It seems that Hyundai Group also recognizes this problem. As early as the end of last year, Hyundai-Kia built the electric modular platform, E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform). Based on this platform, Hyundai and Kia respectively launched the IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6. After introducing the IONIQ 5 and EV6, Hyundai-Kia plans to launch pure electric models exclusively for the Chinese market. By 2030, Hyundai and Kia plan to expand their new energy product lineup to 21 models, including hybrid cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. By 2030, major brands will also be fully transformed into pure electric product competition. At that time, the Hyundai Motor Group will also face considerable challenges.

Source: Hyundai Motor Group official website

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.