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(Seoul, Korea) Hyundai Motor Company plans
to mass produce Hybrid Electric Vehicles starting next year, opening a new
era for environmentally-friendly cars.
While accompanying South Korean President
Lee Myung Bak on a Kia Motors´ plant tour on March 21, Hyundai-Kia
Chairman Chung Mong Koo said the automobile company will mass produce
environmentally-friendly cars from 2009 to create new jobs and develop the
industry into a next-generation value-adding growth engine.
"The importance of developing futuristic,
environmentally-friendly cars is increasing for sustainable growth,"
Chairman Chung said. "Therefore, technology for advanced cars, like the
hybrid, is imperative. We also plan to produce a small fleet of fuel cell
electric vehicles from 2012."
To meet its 2009 mass production target,
Hyundai´s step-by-step plan is to
– Develop Technology
–
Create a mass production system
– Expand model line-up
In accordance with this plan, Hyundai will
begin its first mass production with the compact-sized LPG model, the
Avante (Elantra) LPI (Liqufied Petroleum Injection) hybrid, a car that
uses both Liquefied Petroleum Gas and electricity. In 2010, Hyundai plans
to introduce mid-sized hybrids that use gasoline and LPG.
Currently, Hyundai provides Verna (Accent)
hybrid models to government agencies as pilot projects. The plan is to
expand the line-up to mid-sized sedans and beyond for mass production,
starting from 2009.
Hyundai entered the
environmentally-friendly auto market in October 2004, when it supplied the
government with 50 Click (Getz) hybrid cars. Since then, Hyundai and Kia
have supplied the government with 350 hybrid cars in 2005, including the
Verna model. This number increased to 730 cars in 2006 and 1,682 cars in
2007, totalling about 2,800 cars so far.
Based on the technology accumulated from
producing these cars, Hyundai will from 2009 mass produce hybrid cars that
use LPG, which creates less pollution than conventional cars. Hyundai is
also kicking its development plans into full gear with the aim to mass
produce Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEV) beginning 2012.
Hyundai plans to expand a demo fleet of
FCEV´s to 500 units by 2010, including mid-to-large size SUV´s, then
establish a small production system to begin mass production from 2012.
The mass production of hybrid cars in 2009
will be a turning point for Hyundai, which will increase its
competitiveness in the environmentally-friendly car sector, an area
automakers worldwide are counting on for their strategic survival in the
next-generation business sector.
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