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| Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun speaks at the Mobility Innovators Forum (MIF) 2019 held at Pier 27 in San Francisco, Thursday. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Hyundai Motor Group will adopt a human-centered approach that prioritizes people's physical and mental needs to achieve mobility innovation, the company said Friday.
In a keynote speech at the Mobility Innovators Forum (MIF) 2019, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun said the company's commitment to mobility innovation is for the progress of humanity.
"Cities and mobility services were developed for humans from the very beginning," Chung said.
"That's why we are making a wide range of efforts to study a human-centered future from a broader humanities perspective."
Delivering the speech under the theme "Human-centered mobility," Chung said he believes that technology and innovation should serve the needs of people.
He highlighted the importance of designing new mobility concepts that support the flourishing of people and their communities.
He also mentioned that smart city plans need to be discussed along with the mobility innovation in order to revolutionize future mobility and explore how to can change the ways we think, live and drive.
As part of its future-oriented mobility solutions, Hyundai Motor set up a "human-centered city advisory group" comprised of experts from various fields such as engineering, urban planning and psychology.
"The three keywords that describe a human-centered smart city are care, enable, and vitalize," Chung said. "Future mobility aims to care for humanity, fulfill the need of people, and vitalize dynamic city."
Since early this year, the automotive group has been developing a blueprint for future cities. Its research report "2050 Future City Project" will be published by the end of 2020 to serve as a guideline for future smart city development.
Such moves come in line with Chung's strong push toward enhancing its presence in the global mobility market and becoming a "game changer."
To do so, Hyundai Motor has signed a batch of partnership deals with overseas startups, including Indian ride-hailing service firm Ola, to increase investments in next-generation vehicle technologies.
The Mobility Innovators Forum 2019 is a conference hosted by Hyundai CRADLE to bring together leaders from different disciplines like technology, energy, policy, design and academia to discuss challenges and opportunities.
This year's fourth annual event included networking meetings with promising startups from around the world.
Speakers included architect Peter Calthorpe, H2Energy chairman of the board Rolf Huber and Uber Elevate head Eric Allison, as well as Rimac Automobili Founder and CEO Mate Rimac and Grab co-founder Hooi Ling Tan, according to the automaker.
Despite worsening business environments, Hyundai Motor's third-quarter operating profit rose 31 percent to 378.5 billion won ($327 million) from the same period a year earlier on increased sales of SUVs.
