"Targeting European Commercial Electric Vehicles"... Hyundai Kia Motors Invests 130 Billion KRW in UK Rival

Hyundai Kia Motors and Arrival Sign Joint Electric Vehicle Development Agreement
Developing Commercial Electric Vehicles Including Small and Medium-Sized European Strategic Vans and Buses

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] Hyundai Kia Motors is making a strategic investment of 129 billion KRW in the UK-based commercial electric vehicle specialist ‘Arrival.’ Through this investment, Hyundai Kia aims to accelerate the transition to ‘clean mobility’ and simultaneously secure a competitive edge in electric vehicle development.

The two companies plan to mutually cooperate in developing urban-specialized small commercial electric vehicles. Through collaboration, they will prioritize launching competitively priced eco-friendly commercial electric vehicles in Europe and respond to the rapidly growing European commercial electric vehicle market.

On the 16th, Hyundai Kia Motors and Arrival signed a ‘contract for investment and joint electric vehicle development’ at Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seoul, attended by Albert Biermann, President of Hyundai Kia Motors R&D Division, and Dennis Sverdlov, CEO of Arrival. Under this contract, Hyundai Motor will invest 80 million euros, and Kia Motors will invest 20 million euros, totaling 100 million euros in Arrival.

President Biermann stated, "Europe is a market where rapid growth of eco-friendly vehicles is expected due to expanded environmental regulations," adding, "Through joint development of commercial electric vehicles with Arrival, we will be able to secure competitiveness to lead the global eco-friendly market, starting with the European market."

Founded in 2015, Arrival is a company specializing in the development of electric commercial vehicles such as vans and buses. In addition to its headquarters in the UK, it has production plants and R&D bases in the United States, Germany, Israel, and Russia. Arrival’s strength lies in its modular ‘skateboard platform’ technology. The skateboard platform refers to a structure where core electric vehicle components such as the battery and drive motor are standardized into modular forms and mounted on a skateboard-shaped platform, upon which various body structures can be assembled like ‘Lego blocks.’ This allows the battery and drive components, which account for most of the electric vehicle cost, to be packaged as one and shared across multiple vehicle models, resulting in cost reduction. Currently, Arrival is conducting pilot projects with various logistics companies across Europe by deploying cargo transport vans made using this technology.

With this investment, Hyundai Kia Motors and Arrival will jointly develop small to medium-sized European strategic vans, buses, and other commercial electric vehicles based on the dedicated electric vehicle skateboard platform.

The reason Hyundai Motor Group is entering commercial electric vehicle development is due to the recent surge in related demand. Industry experts forecast that the global market size for small electric commercial vehicles for logistics transport will grow from approximately 316,000 units this year to 1,307,000 units by 2025, with an annual growth rate exceeding 33%.

Hyundai Kia Motors expects to supply vans, buses, and other commercial electric vehicles to logistics companies in Europe, as well as provide small electric vehicles to mobility companies offering car-hailing and demand-responsive shuttle services.

Furthermore, through this collaboration, Hyundai Kia Motors will be able to accelerate its ‘two-track’ strategy in the European eco-friendly commercial vehicle market, utilizing both pure electric and hydrogen electric vehicles. Previously, Hyundai Motor partnered with the Swiss hydrogen energy company ‘H2 Energy’ to establish the joint venture ‘Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility.’ As a result, on the 3rd, they exported hydrogen electric trucks to Europe for the first time for pilot projects and aim to export a total of 1,600 units by 2025.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.