Hyundai Mobis Extends Its Business to Auto Electronic Industry

Hyundai Mobis, the automotive parts unit of the Hyundai Motor Group, extends its business on a full-scale to the electronic industry in relation to the automotive business.

On 20th, Hyundai Mobis established `the Cartronics Institute,` the frontier research center of the automotive electronic information, in Mabuk-ri, Yongin-si, Kyonggi, and announced its launching into the electronic business.

`Cartronics` is the compound word for car and electronics. It was the first time to establish a special institute of electronics in the Hyundai Motor Group, and the company said that it would expand the electronic business based on this institute.

The Hyundai Mobis Institute will undertake the development business of the automotive electronic devices, such as audio and AV systems, navigation and AVS systems which will open the driverless era, telematics system, and the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) which controls airbag and ABS etc.

The Hyundai Mobis announced ``It will invest 80 billion won for research equipments and testing facilities, and develop its own model through the technical partnership with foreign advanced companies and support to domestic venture companies by 2003. Then, the company plans to enter into mass production from 2004.``

To carry out this plan, the company will employ 200 researchers within this year, and will increase its personnel number of the annual employment to 400 in 2004. The research center will be recognized as ‘the complex institute of electronics’ in the Hyundai Motor Group.

A company official said that ``Although the portion of the electronic parts in a automobile price is 25percent, the portion should increase and its business is a promising one,`` and thus ``The company will attain its own ability of designing the high value-added parts, and is planning to become the tenth automobile parts company in the world.``

daviskim@donga.com