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China-led Proton Is Revitalized
Akihiro Komuro Sales of Malaysia’s national carmaker Proton are booming, with its market share in the country reaching 27.3 % in February, hot on the heels of another national carmaker, Produa’s 38.8 %. This is not a single month irregularity; for the full year 2020, the rate is 20.5%. For the full year 2020, the share is 20.5%, almost doubling in just two years from a record low of 10.8% in 2018. This is the first time in seven years that the market share has recovered to the 20% level.
The turning point of the turnaround offensive was a capital/business alliance with a Chinese manufacturer: in September 2017, the company accepted a 49.9% stake from Geely Automobile’s parent company and began importing the right-hand drive version of the X70 SUV, which it produces and sells in China, at the end of 2018. As soon as this became a hit, the company switched to domestic assembly in Malaysia at the end of 2019, and introduced an additional small SUV, the X50, in September 2020.
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Hyundai Group Seals Doosan Infracore Deal
Media outlets in Korea are reporting that Hyundai Heavy Industries is to acquire a 34.97% share in Doosan Infracore from Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction for €630 million (Korean Won 850 billion). Doosan Infracore is the heavy construction division of the Seoul-headquartered Doosan Group.
The transaction does not include Doosan Bobcat, which accounted for 57% of Infracore’s 2019 revenues. The deal will mean that Hyundai will own Hyundai Construction Equipment as well as the Doosan Infracore…
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Hyundai To Custom Design EVs for each Customer
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group is launching a new business to produce EVs to order, according to customer preferences. It is designed to be used for corporate purposes such as delivery and car sharing, and the body design and loading capacity can be flexibly changed to suit the intended use.
The company will take advantage of the characteristics of EVs, which have a higher degree of freedom in design than gasoline vehicles. The company will also introduce a business model that does not involve mass production to accelerate the growth of its EV business.
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Hyundai and Apple in Talks To Develop Self-Driving EVs
Hyundai Motor and Apple are negotiating a partnership in the field of self-driving EVs, reports the Korean newspaper Korea IT News. Other media reported that Hyundai and Apple are aiming to launch a self-driving EV in 2027. Soon after this report, Hyundai announced that it was in early stage talks with Apple. (The above is excerpted from Newsweek)
Hyundai is playing a central role in the Apollo Project, the self-driving EV strategy of Chinese IT giant Baidu and is also actively mass-producing EVs.
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Hyundai’s Unmanned Cargo Plane Concept Aims for 2026
Akihiro Komuro Hyundai Motor Co. has begun developing an unmanned aircraft for cargo transport and has announced the concept of “air cargo” to be commercialized in 2026. The company is already developing a personal aerial vehicle (PAV) that will be responsible for moving people around in urban areas, and this technology will be applied to cargo transport aircraft. It is envisioned as a transport aircraft that will carry more cargo than drones carrying small cargo.
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SOUTH KOREA REPORT: Doosan Infracore Collaborates with Game Developers
Doosan Infracore says it has signed an MOU with Unity Technologies Korea for mutual cooperation in the development of a construction process simulator.
Akihiro Komuro This is the first joint project with a game engine developer in the construction equipment industry, which is rare in the global construction equipment industry.
The game engine is regarded as very useful in various industries such as shipbuilding, logistics and construction. Doosan Infracore and Unity will work together to develop a simulator. It realizes various physical elements on a construction site where excavators and other equipment operate in a virtual environment. The simulator will be very useful in accurately predicting complex variables that may occur on a real construction site.
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Doosan Sells 10,000 Excavators in China in H1 2020
Doosan Infracore announced that it sold 10,728 hydraulic excavators in China in H1 2020. This is the company’s largest sales volume in nine years since it sold more than 12,000 units in the market in H1 2011. The company sold 1,320 excavators in June, a 23% increase in sales over the previous year.
Akihito Komuro China’s hydraulic excavator market suffered a slowdown in the first two months of the year due to COVID-19 but is now consistently showing signs of a rapid recovery. Overall sales in the Chinese hydraulic excavator market exceeded 155,000 units in H1 2020, significantly exceeding the 125,000 units sold nationwide in H1 2019.
Source: Kikai-News (The original article was partially revised by the author.)
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Hyundai Exports Fuel Cell Trucks To Europe
South Korea’s Hyundai Motor announced on July 6 that it has begun exporting commercial hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) to Europe. The company shipped 10 trucks to Switzerland, and it plans to export 1,600 units by 2025 using a long-term lease contract system.
Akihiro Komuro Hyundai has set up a joint venture company to build a hydrogen infrastructure in Switzerland; it also plans to develop hydrogen stations and other infrastructure in cooperation with a local company. They plan to use Switzerland as a base for expanding their exports throughout Europe.
The South Korean government is also focusing on the spread of the hydrogen-based society and will appeal to the governments of other countries. The trucks exported this time will be used by the food distribution industry. The route for these trucks is fixed, making it easy to set up the infrastructure for refueling.
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South Korea: Hyundai and Kia Expand EV Models
According to the Hyundai Motor Group, both Hyundai and Kia plan to offer 44 eco-car models by 2025, more than half of which will be dedicated to EVs (23 models).
Akihito Komuro Hyundai revealed in its 2025 strategy announced at the end of last year that it would increase EV and FCV sales to 560,000 and 110,000 units respectively. Kia has set a goal of selling 500,000 EVs and 1 million eco-cars by 2026, with 11 EV models available across all vehicle classes by 2025.
Source: …
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