Hyundai Motor Group vice chairman Chung Eui-sun said the company will pursue clean, free and connected mobility for future concept vehicle during a press conference at the CES trade show in Las Vegas held on Wednesday.

“We are at the start of a new era of technology convergence and hyper-connectivity. Our focus is the creation of clean, free and connected mobility. Hyundai Motor is becoming a lifetime partner, by providing the best technology solutions that care for humans and society, making our customers lives more convenient and safer,” he said.

The Korean carmaker will lead efforts to develop and distribute eco-friendly cars under this vision. “We are fully ready to provide every type of eco car that customers want around the globe,” he emphasized.

The company is the only carmaker in the world to own the technology required for a spectrum of hybrid, electric and plug-in hybrid cars with the Hyundai IONIQ. It is rolling out a plug-in hybrid version this year. It became the world’s first automaker to mass-produce a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the Tucson Fuel Cell, in 2013 and a follow-up model will be released in 2018. The company plans to launch 14 or more models by 2020, including five hybrid models, four plug-in hybrids, four electric cars and one fuel cell electric vehicle.

The company’s freedom in mobility vision aims to free the driver from all constraints and limitations under the safest possible conditions. Its R&D teams are developing intelligent safety features that take account of driving conditions, and respond to any new situation that a passenger, pedestrian or another driver may create, the company said.

The carmaker’s self-driving IONIQ concept car already met the daylight and night time performance conditions during a demo ride held on Tuesday. The IONIQ delivered satisfactory self-driving performance to meet the level 4 standard by Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). SAE-level 4 means high automation, while the level 5 means full automation.

Regarding the connected mobility vision, Chung said the carmaker is working on open innovation to bring external innovation to building a connected car from global IT companies like CISCO and promising startups.

By Lee Seung-hoon

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