이 기사는 2021년 11월 22일 07:58 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Hyundai Motor has established a new research and development (R&D) organization dedicated to the Chinese market as part of its strategy to bolster its business there.

The South Korea’s largest carmaker has restructured its R&D department in the third quarter of this year, through which it has created the R&D unit in China under the Planning and Coordination office. The creation is seen as a move for the headquarters to directly oversee R&D activities in the Chinese market.

Hyundai Motor seems to have decided to strengthen its presence in the Chinese market through enhancing its R&D capabilities. The carmaker held a virtual presentation titled “Rising Again, For China” in April and unveiled four goals of strengthening local R&D, expanding electrified vehicle (EV) lineup, nurturing the hydrogen fuel cell business and improving its brand awareness.

“China as the world’s largest auto market is full of new opportunities and challenges,” said Lee Kwang-guk, head of Hyundai Motor’s China operations, during the presentation. “With the four new strategies, we aim to take the lead in the era of future mobility and rise again in China.”

China is the world's largest auto market along with Europe and the U.S. Hyundai Motor entered the Chinese market in 2002 by establishing Beijing Hyundai Motor Company (BHMC), a 50:50 joint venture between BAIC Motor and Hyundai Motor.

Despite its rapid growth until 2015, Hyundai Motor’s car sales in China have plummeted since 2016 due to tensions between Seoul and Beijing following the THAAD deployment in Korea. BHMC’s car sales in China dropped by 31.6% year-on-year to 785,000 units in 2017 and sold only 300,000 units in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. BHMC recorded an operating loss of 1.15 trillion won ($971 million) last year.

In October 2020, the auto giant mapped out its new China strategy to regain its past glory in the world's largest auto market and reorganized its Chinese subsidiary in July of this year.

With the reorganization, the local subsidiary BHMC has been placed under Hyundai Motor CEO. The headquarters will manage BHMC’s operations. Until now, the Chinese business has been operated independently by a dedicated organization and personnel.

Cha Seog-ju, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Hyundai Motor Group (China) has been picked to lead the automaker’s R&D in China while vice president Park Dong-il spearheads the Planning and Coordination, which is an organization that encompasses the carmaker’s newly created R&D department and Hyundai Motor Technology & Engineering Center (HMTC) in China. (Reporting by Seo-young Kim)