South Korean legacy automaker Hyundai announced plans on Wednesday to invest more than $50 billion in its home turf by 2026, with a large chunk dedicated to its electric vehicle shift.
Hyundai to invest $50B amid EV shift
According to the press release, Hyundai Motor Group will spend a whopping 68 trillion won or more than $50 billion to “secure future growth engines,” including electric vehicle technology and software-defined vehicles (SDVs).
More than 50% of the total investment, or $26 billion (35.5 trillion won), will fund the company’s Research and Development (R&D) on electric vehicle infrastructure and production to “dominate core technologies.”
Meanwhile, R&D initiatives for EVs, SDVs, and battery technology will receive an astounding 31.1 trillion won.
EV factories expansion
Hyundai plans to use the new funding to expand its EV-dedicated factories, IT capabilities, and joint investments in affiliates.
Hyundai will first push a “large investment” in a new electric vehicle factory. In the second quarter, Kia’s EV factory in Gwangmyeong will officially launch to bring the lower-cost EV3 to the local and foreign markets.
Kia’s EV factory will follow in H2 2025 to build the custom PBV electric vehicles. Meanwhile, Hyundai’s new Ulsan factory will officially kick off production in Q1 2026. It will initially produce the “Ultra-large” Genesis electric SUV, with its annual capacity gradually increasing to 200,000 EVs.
Hyundai’s new investment will generate 80,000 jobs in South Korea.
Hyundai’s EV targets
Hyundai is currently the world’s third-largest automaker by volume, according to CNBC. Now, it aims to become a top-three electric automaker by 2030.
In order to do that, Hyundai aims to roll out 31 electric vehicles by the end of the decade. In addition, it also set a target of 1.51 million electric vehicle production capacity per year by then.
In the US, Hyundai has advanced as the second top-selling electric automaker behind Tesla owing to the success of its EV-dedicated platform (E-GMP) that underpins the IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6, Kia EV6, and Genesis GV60. Hyundai is also on track to introduce its first three-row electric SUV, IONIQ 9, in late 2024.
