Hyundai Motor Group to Skip CES for the First Time in 13 Years Due to COVID-19 Impact

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Hyundai Motor Group will not participate in 'CES 2021,' which has been scaled down due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This marks the first time in 13 years since its debut in 2009 that Hyundai Motor Group will skip the world's largest electronics and IT exhibition, CES.

According to industry sources on the 18th, Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, and Hyundai Mobis recently decided not to attend 'CES 2021.' With next year's event being entirely online due to COVID-19, they judged that the promotional effect and significance of the event would not be the same as in previous years.

Instead of holding a separate media event, Hyundai Motor plans to participate indirectly by having Pamela Con, Executive Director of Global Strategy and Operations for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) at Hyundai Motor, attend a small conference on the theme of 'drones and advanced aerial mobility' as a panelist.

Hyundai Motor Group first attended CES in 2009 when Hyundai Motor set up a solo exhibition booth, and since then, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors have alternated annually to showcase new technologies at CES. Hyundai Mobis also participated for five consecutive years from 2016 to last year by setting up a booth at CES.

At the beginning of this year at CES 2020, Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group (pictured left), is presenting the human-centered innovative mobility vision. Photo by Hyundai Motor Group

Next year's CES will see not only Hyundai Motor Group but also Japanese automakers such as Toyota and Honda absent from the list of participating companies. Among global automakers, participation has significantly decreased compared to previous years, with only Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, GM, and FCA attending.

GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra will introduce GM Group's transformation strategy for mobility advancement in her keynote speech, and Audi will participate as a panelist discussing technological innovations in vehicles desired by consumers. Although Toyota is not on the list of participating companies, it will join a small conference discussing autonomous vehicle regulations.

Hyundai Motor Group's strategy is to skip next year's event, which has been reduced in scale and significance, and instead accelerate the development of future car technologies such as robotics, UAM, and autonomous driving to showcase surprising new technologies at the event the following year.

At 'CES 2020' in January this year, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled the life-sized personal air vehicle (PAV) concept 'S-A1,' developed through a strategic partnership with Uber. At the same time, they announced plans to build a human-centered mobility ecosystem connecting PAVs, purpose-built vehicles (PBV), and mobility transfer hubs.

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