Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun speaks while celebrating the opening of Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS) in the city-state's Jurong Innovation District, Tuesday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
Hyundai Motor Group has completed its new innovation center in Singapore, a cutting-edge research and manufacturing facility dedicated to demonstrating human-centric future mobility, the carmaker said Tuesday.
Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS) will serve as a test bed for the group’s smart mobility solutions. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, so the carmaker can conduct research to optimize its manufacturing processes, according to Hyundai.
The HMGICS commenced operations early this year and can manufacture more than 30,000 electric vehicles (EVs) each year. For now, it manufactures Hyundai Motor’s flagship IONIQ 5 EV and autonomous robotaxis.
“Singapore and Hyundai Motor Group share innovative DNA in common in that both pursue challenges for a better future,” Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun said in a celebratory speech. “Coupled with that spirit, Hyundai aims to achieve innovation with human-centric new technologies. I am sure HMGICS can create innovative mobility solutions that will bring positive changes to human beings.”
The company equipped the facility with fifth-generation (5G) network systems for rapid data transmission and analysis. It also set up what it called a mega-factory used to simulate and control manufacturing processes in a 3D virtual space.
A robot inspects Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 robotaxi at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS) in Singapore. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
The group broke ground on the facility in May 2020 in Jurong Innovation District, a smart manufacturing hub in the city-state that is transforming into a high-tech industrial complex for driving digital transformation in manufacturing sectors. Hyundai Motor Group also identified it as the best place to drive its group-wide vision for smart urban mobility.
Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and a group of executives from Hyundai Motor and the Korean government celebrated the opening of HMGICS.
HMGICS is located in an urban area, so it can respond swiftly to the rapidly changing needs of its customers, according to the carmaker. One key feature is that the facility is capable of dealing flexibly with any changes due to market demands, as it boasts a human-centric manufacturing system powered by the aforementioned advanced technologies.
Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, third from right, poses with Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, center, during a ceremony to celebrate the opening of its Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), Tuesday. Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group
Hyundai Motor Group plans to develop its smart manufacturing platform there, and then apply it to the group’s key manufacturing facilities in Korea and the United States, with a view to maximizing its manufacturing efficiency.
“HMGICS will become a smart urban mobility hub that connects city infrastructure, mobility and even human beings,” said Jung Hong-bum, head of HMGICS. “The facility will also present a new standard for the next manufacturing system that converges not just information and communication technology and AI but even robotics.”
HMGICS and Hyundai’s new EV factory in Ulsan, which will start operation in 2026, will be positioned as the two mainstream innovation facilities for the carmaker to lead the electrified mobility era for the next five decades, the company said.
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