Hyundai spending $55b as car industry transforms

Hyundai Motor joined automakers in pledging massive spending in the years ahead to address the industry's transformation and fend off new competition from the likes of Tesla.

The South Korean maker of the Sonata and Tucson models plans to invest 45.3 trillion won (S$55 billion) in the next five years in the development of new models and technologies for electrified and autonomous vehicles as well as transportation services.

The average annual spending will be 58 per cent more than over the past five years, the company said yesterday.

After a decade-long boom, the world's fifth-biggest carmaker and its competitors are facing cooling demand in China, Europe and the United States.

That challenge is exacerbated by technology shifts such as the popularity of ride-hailing services, which are making vehicle ownership less necessary.

Hyundai Motor said it wants to lead "the paradigm change facing the automotive industry".

  • 58%

  • Increase in Hyundai's average annual spending compared with that over the past five years.

The company also said it will achieve an operating profit margin of 7 per cent by 2022.

Its profitability has been less than that in each of the past four years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 28, 2019, with the headline Hyundai spending $55b as car industry transforms. Subscribe