Hyundai Motor Company to Come Out with a New Brand of Eco-Friendly Vehicle in 2018

Hyundai Motor Company is planning to release eco-friendly vehicle that is based on a new platform and a different from IONIQ in 2018.

“We have decided to use the name IONIZ only for platforms that are currently out right now.” said a high-ranking representative for Hyundai Motor Company on the 4th. “Electric vehicle with a mileage over 300km in South Korean standard (400km for European standard) with just single charge will come with a new name in 2018.”
IONIQ is a vehicle that was released with Hyundai Motor Company’s first eco-friendly vehicle platform. Hyundai Motor Company applied innovativeness and eco-friendliness to ‘IONIQ’, which is the first vehicle in the world with 3 eco-friendly powertrains, and also named its medium and long-term future transportation research project as ‘Project IONIQ’. It also named a group that is responsible for open innovation activities that estimate changes in future mobility and draw scenarios as ‘Project IONIQ Lab’. It was heard that Hyundai Motor Company was thinking about naming all of its eco-friendly vehicles including fuel cell cars as a group of ‘IONIQ’.

Also representatives for Hyundai Motor Company said that it was even thinking about making IONIQ a brand in medium and long terms.
However it seems that Hyundai Motor Company has decided change its naming strategy as it establishes a strategy to put out differentiated eco-friendly vehicles starting from 2018. Hyundai Motor Company is planning to put out SUV with a mileage that is over 320km with just single charge in 2018. Its plan is to grab an upper hand in generalization of eco-friendly vehicles by increasing mileages while reducing price significantly.

A picture of David Mayer de Rothschild, who is an adventurer and environmentalist, explaining Hyundai Motor Companys future mobility innovative research called [Project IONIQ] at Geneva Motor Show in March

As eco-friendly vehicles that are completely different from current IONIQ in car level, exterior, mileage, and performance are set to come out, Hyundai Motor Company has decided to change names.
Hyundai Motor Company is planning to have total of 14 eco-friendly vehicles lineup by 2020 by adding 7 more to current 7 vehicles. If eco-friendly vehicles from Kia Motors are also included, then it will have total of 28 eco-friendly vehicles.

Hyundai Motor Company is going to expand its lineup by diversifying powertrain of current vehicles. It is going to release PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) IONIQ and a new Grandeur hybrid vehicle. Kia Motors is also planning to introduce electric vehicle and PHEV versions of its current vehicle called Niro.
“Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors are planning to introduce total of 16 new eco-friendly vehicles for next 4 years.” said a representative for Hyundai Motor Company. “We believe that grabbing an upper hand in global eco-friendly vehicle markets by increasing investments towards eco-friendly vehicles will be a base for our continual future growth.”
Staff Reporter Mun, Bokyung | [email protected]