Hyundai Motor reveals vision for human-centered mobility

“The development of future mobility should be human-centered. Hyundai Motor Group will study new mobility for people,” Hyundai Motor Group’s Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun said while presenting the direction of the group’s future mobility business in a keynote speech at the Mobility Innovators Forum held at Pier 27 in San Francisco on Thursday (local time).

Innovative mobility would be meaningful only when it serves the needs of people, Chung said, implying the company’s plan to seek projects directed towards the progress of humanity.

To that end, South Korea’s No. 1 carmaker set up the Human-Centered City Advisory Group comprised of experts from various fields including psychology, urban planning, design, and politics to come up with three core values of a future city, namely inclusion, self-realization, and dynamism, Chung explained. The group is expected to announce the result of its research on how to implement new mobility and services in advanced cities (smart cities) early next year.

In fact, the country’s largest carmaker is already pursuing projects for urban aviation mobility including personal air vehicles (PAV). “Now that innovative mobility is emerging, it would be difficult to resolve fundamental issues unless we realize new urban planning,” Chung said, hinting at the group’s future PAV business. During the company’s “town hall meeting” on Oct. 22, he also revealed a vision to modify Hyundai’s business portfolio so that cars, PAVs, and robotics would take 50, 30, and 30 percent shares each.

The Mobility Innovators Forum 2019 marked its fourth edition, hosted by Hyundai CRADLE, the group’s corporate venturing and support center established in Silicon Valley. Speakers including Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate, and Hooi Ling Tan, co-founder of Grab, attended the conference while Chung made a surprise appearance as a keynote speaker for a 20-minute-long speech. Upon returning home, Chung will also reportedly have a meeting with Uber, the world’s largest mobility platform operator.


warum@donga.com