Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Euisun has declared that the world’s fifth-largest carmaker will target the electric vehicle market in Southeast Asia where Japanese competitors such as Toyota Motor Corp. are dominating the entire automobile industry.
Hyundai decided to use EVs to penetrate the regional market, a new growth engine for South Korea’s top automaker, with a production base in Indonesia, analysts said.
BEYOND INDONESIA
Chung on Oct. 25 said Hyundai’s new plant in Indonesia will start producing EVs from the next year.
“We will establish an ecosystem to help Indonesia leap forward as a leading country of electric vehicles,” Chung said at an event called The Future EV Ecosystem for Indonesia in Jakarta. “The EV industry will become a new future growth engine for Indonesia.”
The group plans to actively support the development of charging infrastructures and battery recycling technology sectors, Chung added.
Hyundai is building its first Southeast Asian car factory in the Deltamas Industrial Complex, Bekasi, about 40 kilometers east of Jakarta. The plant to be completed within this year can produce 150,000 units a year and its capacity is set to rise to 250,000 units later. Indonesia is Southeast Asia’s top auto market.
“We aim to dominate Indonesia’s EV market and become an eco-friendly brand there. Based on that, we will target the entire Southeast Asian EV market,” said a Hyundai Motor Group source. The Genesis Electrified G80
Japanese automakers such as Toyota and Honda Motor Co. have been dominating most Southeast Asian countries except Vietnam with their combined market share of more than 90%. But they are not aggressive in the EV sector and none of them has EV plants in the region.
Chung visited Indonesia as he is well aware of the importance of the EV market in Southeast Asia, industry sources said.
He proposed Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to join forces with Hyundai on the hydrogen economy. Cooperation between Indonesia, with its great renewable energy potential and Hyundai, a leading hydrogen group, is expected to create more synergies than predicted.
INDONESIA PLEDGES SUPPORT
Indonesia plans to support Hyundai Motor Group’s targeting of the regional EV market. Widodo toured the venue with Chung and praised Hyundai’s EV models as “excellent.” Widodo also tried the all-electric IONIQ 5 and the Genesis Electrified G80, the EV version of the Genesis sedan, asking their prices. Senior Indonesian government officials also pledged to support Hyundai.
Indonesia selected the Genesis Electrified G80 as the official VIP car for the G20 Summit to be held in the fourth quarter of 2022 in Bali. Leaders of global major countries will ride in the premium EV sedan during the event.
Write to Byung-Uk Do at dodo@hankyung.com Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.
