이 기사는 2021년 07월 21일 07시56분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

Hyundai Motor Group has partnered with express bus company Kumho Express in an attempt to expand its hydrogen mobility ecosystem in South Korea.

Kumho Express said in a regulatory filing on Friday that Hyundai Motor and Kia, part of Hyundai Motor Group, will purchase a combined 15 billion won ($13 million) worth of new shares issued by the company in a private placement. They will invest 9 billion won and 6 billion won, respectively.

This is the first time for the South Korean automotive conglomerate to make an equity investment in a domestic company from the transportation sector. Hyundai Motor has been heavily investing in future mobility technologies and partnerships in recent years. It had equity holdings in 70 companies at the end of March, with foreign businesses accounting for 68.5% of them. The rest mostly consisted of the conglomerate’s affiliates.

The purpose of the partnership with Kumho Express is to replace the company’s bus fleet with hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles. The partnership may involve adding Hyundai Motor Group’s representative to Kumho Express’s board of directors.

“This is a strategic investment and partnership to ramp up the hydrogen fuel cell bus business,” said a representative for Hyundai Motor Group. “We plan to provide hydrogen fuel cell buses to Kumho Express. Details have not been decided yet.”

Kumho Express, which was split off from Kumho Buslines in September last year, has 962 buses and operates 167 routes at the end of June this year. It is the largest player in the domestic express bus industry, with over a 30% market share, followed by Dongyang Express (18%) and Joong Ang Express (17%).

The partnership with Kumho Express, which holds the lion’s share of the bus transportation market, could help Hyundai Motor Group cement its leading position in the domestic automotive industry as a major hydrogen fuel cell vehicle manufacturer.

The partnership is also beneficial for Kumho Express as Hyundai Motor Group has world-class technology in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Transportation companies also face increasing pressure from regulators to shift to zero-emission vehicles.

Hyundai Motor Group has been stepping up efforts to expand its presence in the hydrogen mobility ecosystem in the past years.

The conglomerate started mass production of hydrogen fuel cell-powered cars for the first time in the world in 2013 and launched the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell sport utility vehicle, NEXO, in 2018. It also succeeded in mass-producing hydrogen fuel cell trucks and started to export them to Switzerland in 2020.

The partnership with Kumho Express will enable Hyundai Motor Group to further expand its hydrogen mobility ecosystem into the express bus sector.

Observers expect Hyundai Motor Group to explore opportunities for strategic partnership across industries in the future as it also plans to develop hydrogen fuel cell power systems for urban air mobility aircraft, ships, trains and emergency power equipment. (Reporting by Seo-young Kim)