Hyundai Motor's In-house Venture 'Auto&'... "Leading Future Car Life through KOSDAQ Listing"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] "We will lead the future car life with our entry into the KOSDAQ market."

Choi Chan-wook, CEO of Auto&, announced this goal at an IPO press conference held on the 6th in Yeouido, Seoul.

Auto& is a mobility life platform company that started as an in-house venture at Hyundai Motor Group in 2008 and spun off in 2012. It operates a platform that connects the before market, which includes the assembly stage to sales of finished vehicles, and the after market, which covers replacement parts such as accessories, tuning products, and components.

While the linkage between the before and after markets already exists in the market, CEO Choi emphasized that Auto& developed a specialized business model. He said, "Cup holders, air conditioners, navigation systems, etc., were previously installed through the after market, but now finished car manufacturers directly apply them after confirming customer demand. Auto&’s business model is to commercialize this ecosystem."

CEO Choi explained, "Auto& first transformed the aftermarket into a commerce platform. By analyzing the data from sales here, we created an A2B (Aftermarket to Beforemarket) product and service platform that applies verified products and services to finished vehicles."

Auto&’s revenue is divided into commerce platform and product/service platform. Commerce platform revenue comes from Auto&’s operated channels including ▲its own brand mall ▲Hyundai Motor Group’s Blue Members Car Life Mall ▲Kia Members Car & Life Mall ▲Hyundai & Kia Car Master Mall ▲Hyundai Commercial Go Truck Mall. Product/service platform revenue includes parts and new car options directly applied to vehicles such as Genesis, EV6, Ioniq, and Casper.

Performance has been improving every year. After recording KRW 31.8 billion in sales and an operating loss of KRW 300 million in 2019, sales reached KRW 49.4 billion with an operating profit of KRW 4.7 billion in 2020. As of the third quarter of last year, sales and operating profit were KRW 36.7 billion and KRW 2.1 billion, respectively.

He said, "Auto& realized full-scale profits by completing a platform that connects aftermarket commerce to finished car products and has been steadily profitable so far. Last year also saw stable growth, but some sales were delayed compared to plans due to recent vehicle semiconductor supply issues." He added, "We expect sales growth to continue this year as the semiconductor issue resolves and new lineups such as Genesis and electric vehicles are announced."

Through this IPO, Auto& plans to offer a total of 2,877,579 shares. The desired price band is KRW 4,200 to 4,800. The raised amount is expected to be between KRW 12.1 billion and KRW 13.8 billion. The estimated market capitalization after the offering is between KRW 54.1 billion and KRW 61.8 billion.

Most of the raised funds will be used for operating capital. Specifically, they will be invested in the aftermarket commerce platform, before market product/service platform, new businesses, and operational expenses.

Auto&’s new businesses include ▲expanding Auto& commerce platform partnership channels using APIs ▲developing the Moka app for general customers ▲developing an IoT-based personalized service platform. Since APIs can be used in various forms such as customer management, shopping, and reservations, they expect to link with various industries beyond finished cars, including banking, finance, and gas stations.

The Moka app, currently being developed for general customers, targets vehicle owners with cars older than six years. It aims to provide services such as nationwide repair and installation labor cost comparison, lowest price product search, and DIY location rental.

Additionally, the personalized service platform is a business that offers IoT subscription services connecting products installed in vehicles with apps, purpose-built vehicle (PBV) development for specific vehicle purposes, and individualized customized services based on customer data.

CEO Choi Chan-wook emphasized, "Since its founding, Auto& has steadily prepared everything from sourcing to product development and commerce platform capabilities over the past 10 years, growing into a comprehensive mobility life platform company. As future car business areas such as electric and autonomous vehicles expand, I am confident that companies like Auto& that solve what to do while on the move will become pioneers of mobility life."

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