Hyundai Unveils $85B Investment Plan To Become An EV Powerhouse

Hyundai Motor HYMTF on Tuesday unveiled a plan to invest 109.6 trillion won ($85.4 billion) over the next ten years to transform into a “smart mobility solution provider.” 

What Happened: A significant portion of this investment, 35.8 trillion won, will be dedicated to electrification efforts to achieve annual electric vehicle sales of 2 million units by 2030.

The South Korean automaker revealed its intention to develop a second-generation dedicated EV platform for 13 models until 2030. 

Hyundai also plans to establish dedicated EV factories while leveraging its existing internal combustion engine plants. 

The construction of Hyundai’s first dedicated EV factory in Georgia is underway, with production expected to begin in the second half of 2024 and an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. 

Additionally, Hyundai will start mass production at its 2-trillion-won EV factory in Korea in 2025.

Great Expectations: Hyundai aims to maintain an average annual investment of around 11 trillion won until 2032. However, investment amounts in 2024 and 2025 may exceed 12 trillion won due to the emphasis on electrification. 

While funding will be equally allocated between combustion engines and future technologies in the next three years, Hyundai anticipates a gradual decrease in investment for internal combustion engines starting from 2026. 

The company projects a 10% profitability rate for EVs by 2030.

Why It Matters: In 2022, Hyundai reported an operating profit of 9.8 trillion won, a significant increase from 2.4 trillion won in 2020. In the first quarter of this year, Hyundai experienced an 86.3% year-on-year jump in operating profit to 3.59 trillion won.

To address global supply challenges, Hyundai plans to expand local production of EVs. In the United States, the company aims to increase the localization rate by raising the proportion of EVs to 75% from the current 0.7%. Additionally, Hyundai’s two U.S. battery joint ventures will start operations in 2025.

Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read More: Tesla Model Y Emerges As Strong Contender To Dethrone Ford F-150 As America’s Best-Loved Vehicle