The Hyundai Motor Group has formed a special team to develop "aviation powertrains (PT)" and concentrated its personnel deployment. This appears to be a decision to accelerate its Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) business, which is being pursued in cooperation with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI).
According to industry sources on Thursday, Hyundai Motor recently established an "Aviation PT Manufacturing TFT (Task Force Team)" within the Electrification Production Technology Center of the Manufacturing Solutions Division through a recent organizational restructuring.
Shin Dong-jo, Director of the Electrification Production Technology Center, concurrently serves as the head of the TFT, and a total of 30 full-time and part-time employees will be assigned to it.
Hyundai Motor maintains that this is an organizational establishment aimed at strengthening collaboration between aviation PT development and manufacturing technology sectors.
In fact, given that Lee Hong-wook, Director of Aviation Powertrain Development at Hyundai Motor (Senior Executive), Kim Young-ho, Director of Electrification Advanced Production Technology at Kia (Senior Executive), and Kim Do-hyung, Director of Electrification Production Technology at Hyundai Motor (Senior Executive) are all participating in the TFT, it can be seen that the focus is on enhancing "synergy" between development and manufacturing.
The ultimate goal of this organizational restructuring is to accelerate AAM development. AAM is a concept encompassing Urban Air Mobility (UAM), which focuses on short-distance transport, and Regional Air Mobility (RAM), which involves air traffic between regions.
It is attracting attention as a solution to resolve traffic congestion in future metropolitan areas. Previously, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of the Hyundai Motor Group (then Senior Vice Chairman), expressed his will to pursue the AAM business by stating, "In the future, (the business mix of the Hyundai Motor Group) will be 50% automobiles, 30% Private Air Vehicles (PAV), and 20% robotics."
The Hyundai Motor Group established an independent U.S. subsidiary called "Supernal" in 2021 to fully launch its AAM business, but tangible results have not been as prominent as expected. Consequently, the group began accelerating the business again after signing a memorandum of understanding with KAI last May.
The project is being pursued by fusing the Hyundai Motor Group's competitiveness in developing electrified aviation powertrains with KAI's capabilities in aircraft development.
Specifically, the strategy involves Supernal and KAI jointly developing AAM aircraft, while the Hyundai Motor Group accelerates the commercialization of its electrified aviation powertrain under development.
Meanwhile, the group has recently shown a focus on strengthening its capabilities in future new businesses such as robotics, hydrogen, and aviation through organizational restructuring. The group recently established an "RX (Robotics Everything) Business Strategy Team" under the Future Business Strategy Division.
This is an organization that formulates strategies for expanding global robotics technology and business areas and enhancing competitiveness across the entire robotics business value chain.
In addition, the group has established a "Saudi Hydrogen Mobility Ecosystem Construction TFT" under the HMG Energy & Hydrogen Business Division and is accelerating efforts to build a hydrogen ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.
in INDUSTRY
