Hyundai Breaks Ground on Singapore R&D Center

Hyundai is hoping to extend its market reach in Asia with the groundbreaking of a new R&D center in Singapore.

The Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) will act as an open innovation lab for the automaker’s future mobility R&D.

In a company statement, the automaker says the center aims to “enhance the value of work and the dignity of workers through a human-centered digital transformation.” It expects the center to develop innovative systems employing artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and big data to improve the work environment.

The center will use eco-friendly solar and hydrogen energy to help achieve carbon neutrality in line with Singapore’s Smart Nation industrial strategy.

Hyundai’s plan is that future customers will be able to customize and purchase vehicles online using a smartphone, which will immediately start production using the automaker’s on-demand technology. Customers then can watch their car being manufactured at the center.

Once the car is ready for delivery, it will be transferred to the 678-yard-long (620-m) rooftop Sky Track where customers can test-drive the vehicle at the center located at the Jurong Innovation District.

Euisun Chung, Hyundai's newly named chairman, says: “We will offer products and services tailored to customers’ needs. I am confident the innovations that spring from HMGICS will shape our future global society for the better and contribute to the progress of humanity.”