Hyundai Motor Company has partnered with Kia Motors Corporation to jointly invest in the manufacturing of electric vehicles. With Hyundai investing €80 million and Kia, €20 million, a total of €100 million has been invested in a United Kingdom-based start-up that manufactures electric vans called Arrival.
Details of the partnership: The car giants plan to use the partnership to introduce competitively priced small and medium-sized electric vans and other products for logistics and on-demand ride-hailing and shuttle service companies.
The companies were said to have contracted Arrival to help them produce these vehicles so as to meet the rapidly growing demand in Europe for cleaner commercial vehicles and accelerate the companies’ transformation from carmakers to clean mobility providers.
According to Hyundai, the partnership would also enable it to accelerate its strategy to deliver electric battery and hydrogen fuel cell solutions for the commercial vehicle market in Europe.
Speaking on the development, the Hyundai Motor Group President and Head of Research and Development Division Albert Biermann said the joint development would enable the company to compete effectively in the global eco-friendly vehicle market.
[READ MORE: Hyundai to invest $87 billion into producing 44 new electric vehicles)
“The eco-friendly vehicle market in Europe is expected to grow rapidly due to the introduction of further environmental regulations. Through the joint development of electric commercial vehicles with Arrival, we will be able to gain a competitive advantage and progressively establish our leadership in the global eco-friendly vehicle market, with Europe at the forefront,” Biermann said.
What you should know: Nairametrics had previously reported when Hyundai Motor Group announced that it would be investing $87 billion in the production of electric vehicles and autonomous driving.
The company’s Executive Vice Chairman, Chung Eui-sun disclosed that the $87 billion investment would be put to work over the course of 5 years in future mobility technologies like the planned production of new electric models.
About Arrival: Founded in 2015, the electric van manufacturer has production plants and research and development centres in the US, Germany, Singapore, Russia and the UK.
