Hyundai establishing Singapore mobility global innovation centre

Hyundai is establishing a Hyundai Mobility Global Innovation Centre in Singapore (HMGICs) to accelerate its innovation efforts, with support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

The new lab will be located in Singapore’s Jurong Innovation District. Construction will begin in May with completion expected in second half of 2022. HMGICs will help ensure the company’s transformation into a smart mobility solution provider and secure its sustainable growth.

Hyundai says HMGICs will become its global open innovation hub. The lab will explore and prove new future mobility business concepts for eventual expansion into global markets. Combining Hyundai’s open innovations efforts with Singapore’s fertile atmosphere, HMGICs will validate concepts including multi-modal mobility services.

It will also spearhead efforts to reach new markets and customers with cutting-edge technologies that will transform automotive R&D, production and sales. Combining AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and other advanced technologies, the lab will create a human-centred smart manufacturing platform that will be validated through a small pilot EV production facility. In conjunction with the platform, an innovative product development process and on-demand production system will be tested and proven.

The company plans to collaborate with competitive local partners to test and validate innovative solutions for advanced mobility services. The lab also will test a service using multiple modes of transport, as well as on-demand shuttle and last-mile mobility via e-scooter. In addition, Hyundai will review a potential collaboration on a pilot study for Singapore’s Smart City project.

Hyundai will seek ways to implement smart technologies that will transform the automotive value chain including development, production and sales. It expects to secure new markets and customers through the effort.

HMGICs aims to establish a human-centred smart manufacturing platform and present a vision of next-generation manufacturing for future vehicles. The new platform will not only be highly automated but also integrate AI, Internet of Things (IOT), digitalisation and robotics. When realised, Hyundai’s new manufacturing platform will help make automotive plants safer and greatly diminish the physical burden for workers, using manpower only where necessary.

It will also establish a small-scale pilot EV production facility as a testbed for human-centred manufacturing platform. EV production is especially suitable for a smart manufacturing platform, because EVs have fewer parts compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines.

In addition, HMGICs will test an on-demand production system, allowing customers to build their vehicles with a wider range of customisation options.

At HMGICs, Hyundai also aims to study new methods of vehicle development conducive to smart manufacturing while further increasing use of virtual reality (VR) technology in the vehicle development process.

In December 2019, Hyundai announced a new vision for the company called Strategy 2025, aiming to transform into a Smart Mobility Solution Provider with two core business pillars of Smart Mobility Devices and Smart Mobility Services.

Of the two pillars, Smart Mobility Services will be a key future growth driver for Hyundai, bringing together devices and services to offer customers a personalised mobility lifestyle.

The company plans to leverage its customer base to provide vehicle services such as maintenance, repair, financing, insurance and charging. To do this, Hyundai will build a smart mobility platform that analyses customer data based on vehicle utilisation, leveraging increased connectivity. By gaining a better understanding of customers’ needs, the company will be able to offer services tailored to every aspect of customers’ lives, including shopping, delivery, streaming and mobility services.

Strategy 2025 also details regional optimization for Smart Mobility Services. In the U.S., car-sharing and robo-taxi services will capitalize on the anticipated commercialisation of autonomous vehicles of SAE Level 4 or higher. In Korea, Asia and Australia, Hyundai plans to enter the mobility service market by partnering with leading local players. In Europe and Russia, where the service industry is mature, the company will focus on businesses that combine products and services.