Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai auto group held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony for its innovation center in Singapore that will act as an open innovation lab for future mobility research and development. A landing port for urban air mobility will be located on top of the center. Construction will be completed by the end of 2022.

The Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) will develop innovative systems that combine advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, information and communications technology, and big data, the group said in a statement.

The virtual event was attended by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, South Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun. "We hope this will open up new growth areas for our economy, and create exciting jobs for Singaporeans," Lee said.

Through the center, Hyundai said it would realize its vision for human-centered mobility value chain innovation. "We will offer products and services tailored to customers' needs," Chung said, promising to use the center for "a mobility paradigm shift."

Customers will be able to customize and purchase vehicles online using a smartphone, which will immediately start production, Hyundai said, adding customers can watch their car being manufactured and transferred to a 620-meter-long sky track for test driving at the center.

Hyundai said the center would feature a landing port for urban air mobility and use eco-friendly energy sources like solar and hydrogen to help achieve carbon neutrality. Logistics and assembly lines will be highly automated and Singaporean universities, startups and research institutes will be able to collaborate through the center's open innovation lab.