Hyundai Motor plans to commercialize personal air vehicles by 2028

The 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’ largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition being held in Las Vegas from Tuesday (local time), is becoming the place of open innovations as an open collaboration that goes beyond barriers not only between industries but also between friends and foes is accelerating. Partnering with competitors for future survival is being witnessed.

The case in point is a collaboration between Hyundai Motor Company and Uber, which is definitely garnering a lot of attention at this year’s CES. The South Korean automobile company proposed urban air mobility (UAM), purpose-built vehicle (PBV), and Hub for mobility transfer to realize its future mobility vision and revealed concept models at the media event on Monday.

UAM refers to transportation services that allow people to move by air using personal air vehicles (PAVs) that use electricity and take off and land vertically in an increasingly more crowded and large urban environment. PBVs are a mobility solution that provides customized services for passengers in transit to destinations while Hub is a space that connects UAM and PBV.

Collaboration between Hyundai Motor Company and Uber will lead to the development of PAVs according to their unveiling of “S-A1,” a five-seat concept PAV. While mobility services are threatening the traditional auto industry, Hyundai Motor Company has made an official partnership with Uber, a representative of its future competitors. The collaboration received a lot of buzz as the auto manufacturer has been trying to transform itself into a mobility service provider.

“One of the drivers to transform ourselves into a smart mobility solution provider is cooperation with the world’s industry leaders,” said Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun at the Monday media event. “We are very happy to work with a world-leading company like Uber.” High-ranking officials of the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which is in charge of domestic traffic regulations, even attended the event on the auto player’s future mobility future and expressed their intention for active cooperation. Hyundai Motor Company predicts UAM to be commercialized by 2028.


Do-Hyong Kim dodo@donga.com