Hyundai Motor introduces car sharing service venture in LA

Hyundai Motor Group has launched a future mobility service venture company in the U.S. The South Korean company signed the memorandum of understanding with the City of Los Angeles to launch MoceanLab, its U.S.-based mobility service venture company, on Thursday (local time) at the CoMotion LA, a mobility exhibition organized by the city.

MoceanLab will first introduce car sharing service in four transfer parking lots near major metro stations in the city – Union, Westlake, Pershing Square, and 7th Street/Metro Center stations – followed by deploying up to 300 cars for sharing in the LA area. The automobile company will work with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation under the City of Los Angeles for the operation of the service.

LA is considered to be an optimal city for mobility business as it is the world’s largest city with advanced transportation technology. The annual average public transportation expenses made by an LA citizen is about 9,741 U.S. dollars, which is much higher than 7,907 dollars in New York and 5,445 dollars in London. The Californian city also accounts for 20 percent of all electric vehicles registered in the U.S. and the number of public transportation-related start-ups in the city is twice as many as New York.

“We’ve formed a consensus with the City of Los Angeles on the philosophy for future mobility and the direction to build a sustainable city environment,” a source from Hyundai Motor Group said.

The South Korean automotive group has been increasing its global investment in the mobility business. The company made an agreement for cooperation in the local mobility market with largest ride-hailing service Ola in India in March this year. It is also running electric vehicle-based service pilots by investing in Grab, the largest ride-hailing service in Southeast Asia. In addition, the auto company launched car subscription service Hyundai Mobility in collaboration with the Skolkovo Innovation Center, which is often called a Silicon Valley in Russia.


Seok-Jun Bae eulius@donga.com