Hyundai Motor chief pinpoints Singapore as next automation frontier

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Hyundai Motor chief pinpoints Singapore as next automation frontier

Published: 13 Dec. 2024, 17:23

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, right, speaks during a town hall meeting with some 300 employees at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore on Thursday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung visited Singapore to encourage local employees for their dedicated hard work and emphasize the Southeast Asian country's role in his vision for future mobility.

“Our journey has been impressive so far, but the best is yet to come,” Chung said Thursday during a two-hour town hall meeting at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS), which was attended by some 300 workers.

“We can meet the challenges ahead because we are Hyundai. We can meet the challenges because we have what it takes — the right people like you, and our vision of progress for humanity,” Chung added. “HMGICS is exploring new business ideas and technologies that will revolutionize future mobility.”

The HMGICS held a anniversary ceremony that day, inviting Chung; Hyundai Motor CEO Chang Jae-hoon, who was recently promoted to vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group; Jung Jun-cheul, head of manufacturing; and Alpesh Patel, chief innovation officer of HMGICS.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, left, takes a selfie with workers at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore on Thursday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

When asked about the cardinal virtues of a leader, Chung selected “curiosity” and “listful listening.”

Leaders “must have an attitude of exploring and understanding deeply with curiosity,” he said. “And the most critical [attitude] in there is careful listening.”

Regarding the Singapore center's role in Hyundai's long-term future strategy, Chang said, “We will proactively develop essential technologies for future factories, such as AI, robotics and automation, and verify their effectiveness through concrete projects.”

“The expertise accumulated during this process will become a key asset for building smart factories and will be applied to Hyundai’s global manufacturing sites,” he added.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, center, takes a group photo with workers at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore on Thursday. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Opened in November 2023 on a 44,000-square-meter (473,612-square-foot) site in western Singapore's Jurong Innovation District, HMGICS has no conveyor belt. Instead, cars are manufactured by 200 robots in a so-called cell workshop, where multiple robotic arms assemble the vehicle. Only one human worker is needed to oversee the process.

It is a one-order-per-delivery system, wherein robots make customized cars when an order is placed.

The center has an annual capacity of 30,000 EVs. Some 300 employees work at the center, with half of them working on research. Any innovative technologies developed and used at the Singapore center, a test bed for Hyundai, will be applied to Hyundai's other overseas plants.

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]