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Hyundai to invest 7.6 trillion won by 2030 to boost fuel-cell output

Hyundai to invest 7.6 trillion won by 2030 to boost fuel-cell output

Posted December. 12, 2018 07:58,   

Updated December. 12, 2018 07:58

한국어

Hyundai Motor Group has announced its plan to invest 7.6 trillion won in hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) and enhance its plant’s output capacity from the current 3,000 units a year to 500,000 units by 2030. Industry observers say that the South Korean car manufacturer has declared its vision for hydrogen cars amid increasingly fierce competition over eco-friendly cars in the global market.

Hyundai held a groundbreaking ceremony of the second fuel cell systems plant in Chungju on Tuesday, and announced its “Vision 2030 for Hydrogen Vehicles.” The event was attended by some 120 officials from the automotive group, the government, and local authorities, including Chung Eui-sun, Hyundai Motor Group’s Executive Vice Chairman; Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy; Lee Si-jong, Governor of North Chungcheong Province; Cho Gil-hyung, Mayor of Chungju City; Chung Jin-haeng, President of Hyundai Motor; and Lim Young-deuk, CEO of Hyundai Mobis. The company invested 286 billion won in building the second plant with the scale of 16,600 square meters.

South Korea’s No. 1 automobile manufacturer also said that together with its suppliers, it will invest a total of 7.6 trillion won in hydrogen car-producing facilities and related R&D activities by 2030. Around 51,000 people will be directly employed down the road, according to the company.

Hyundai also revealed a plan to take the lead in “the hydrogen economy,” by seeking new projects to supply hydrogen fuel cell systems for not only other global hydrogen car makers but also other areas of transportation such as ships, trains, and forklifts, and even for the generation and storage of electricity. “We will establish an industry ecosystem suitable for the era of clean energy in the future, and build up a new foundation for growth,” the company said.

The company expected that over 2 million hydrogen cars will be sold globally every year in the future. This figure is around half the number of units produced by Hyundai Motor sold in the world last year (around 4.67 million units, except for vehicles made by Kia Motors).


Eun-Taek Lee nabi@donga.com