New Hyundai boss: "Flexibility is one of the most important levers of our strategy" $HYUD (+0%)
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Hyundai repeatedly emphasizes its ambitious electric car plans. However, the South Koreans will also increasingly focus on semi-electric vehicles in the future under new leadership. Jose Muñoz, who has just been appointed as the next global CEO of Hyundai Motor, said according to Automotive Newsthat it was time for the car manufacturer to focus strongly on hybrids. This would give them flexibility in uncertain times.
Current CEO Jaehoon Chang is aiming to more than double global hybrid sales to 1.33 million vehicles by 2028. The company expects to sell 510,000 hybrid vehicles this year. For the time being, the company is focusing on plug-in hybrids, conventional hybrids, pure electric vehicles, hydrogen technologies and classic combustion engines.
"I think flexibility is one of the most important levers in our strategy. If you sell fewer electric cars, you sell more hybrids," says the new CEO Muñoz. This applies to the core Hyundai brand as well as the luxury subsidiary Genesis. In addition to updating its existing hybrid technology, the company is pushing ahead with a system for a longer electric range, in which an internal combustion engine is also on board as a power generator. The so-called range extender models are initially to be introduced in North America and China.
Together with Genesis, Hyundai wants to double its range from 7 to 14 hybrids, according to earlier reports. The core brand is aiming for a range of 21 electric car models by 2030 in parallel with the growing full hybrid range. The range is to extend from affordable electric cars to luxury and high-performance vehicles. From 2030, two million of these battery-powered vehicles are to be sold worldwide each year.
"As part of the Hyundai Way, we will ... respond flexibly to the market," said outgoing CEO Jaehoon Chang in August. "This will secure us a sustainable leadership position in an uncertain market environment and strategically position the company to create a future focused on mobility and energy."
