Hyundai – Kia named Car Company of the Year by Autocar

(SEOUL) November 18, 2008 — The UK’s oldest motoring magazine, Autocar, has named Hyundai-Kia as its Car Company of the Year at its annual award ceremony in Westminster London, England. The annual Autocar awards event is widely considered Europe’s most prestigious industry accolades ceremony and is where the European Car of the Year Award winner is announced.

Citing the Korean giant’s “mind-blowing” ambition, editor Chas Hallet presented the title to Mr. Nam-Yong Kim, President of Hyundai-Kia’s European Research and Development Centre in Germany.

Hallett commented, “When the irrepressible Hyundai-Kia group started talking, just a few years ago, about wanting to become the world’s fifth largest car company behind Toyota, GM, Ford and Audi-VW, many of us were sceptical.

“Then the Korean group got serious. They hatched a plan to assemble a European design and engineering team to conceive a range of models for Europe. Boldly, they challenged the VW Golf and Ford Focus head on, building cars that looked as good and worked as well – and offering them with a far longer warranty, just for good measure.

“They began to acquire a reputation as the Eastern marques that would bring forth bold design concepts, much as Citroen has been doing in Europe, and they built separate factories for Hyundai and Kia in lower-cost Eastern Europe, servicing both operations from handily placed engine and gearbox plants,” he added.

The product of a merger in 1998, Hyundai-Kia currently dominate the Korean domestic car market with an 80 per cent share and this year became the world’s fifth largest car-maker, according to Automotive News in the US.

With plants in North America, China, Europe and other locations including Russia, the Middle East and South East Asia, Hyundai-Kia have climbed into the top ranks of the world’s biggest car companies in less than 50 years. Both companies began making automobiles in the 1960s and didn’t start exporting their products until the 1980s.

Kia currently builds its cee’d family and Sportage SUV models at its state-of-the-art factory in Zilina in the Slovak Republic and construction of a plant in Georgia, US is nearing completion.

President Nam-Yong Kim commented, “This recognition of the efforts of everyone within Hyundai and Kia is a great honour, coming from such a renowned publication as Autocar. This is a significant recognition of the determination of our Chairman, Mr. Mong-Koo Chung and all of our people to firmly put the Korean automotive industry on the global map.”

Kia, Microsoft Open Automotive IT Center

 

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Microsoft Corp. and Korea’s Institute for Information Technology Advancement (IITA) recently opened an IT Center to jointly develop new IT products and services for automotive application.

Kia Motors Corp. President Mr. Euisun Chung, Microsoft CEO Mr. Steve Ballmer and IITA President Mr. Sung-Ok Lee were joined by other government officials and corporate executives from Hyundai-Kia, Microsoft and other officials from the information technology industry held at Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group (HKAG)’s headquarters in Seoul.

“The collaboration between the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group and Microsoft will have a great synergy effect that will significantly raise our businesses’ capabilities,” said Mr. Mong-Koo Chung, Chairman & CEO of HKAG. “In particular, the IT center, which will be a new platform of cooperation between private companies and the government, will serve as a role model for other industries.”

“Microsoft and Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group share a similar vision for the role that information technology will play in connecting people to information, communications, and entertainment while they are in their cars,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft.

“We’re excited by the opportunities this new Automotive IT Innovation Center will create for Microsoft, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, and Institute for Information Technology to continue to work together to develop new innovations that will make the time that people spend in their cars more productive and enjoyable than ever before.”

Before the opening ceremony, Mr. Ballmer met Mong-Koo Chung, Chairman and CEO of HKAG, to discuss cooperation between the automobile and IT industries. Kia Motors’ Mr. Chung hosted the opening ceremony.

The jointly-formed Automotive IT Innovation Center (AIIC) will be located within HKAG’s new research facilities in Uiwang City, south of Seoul.  

Automotive IT Innovation Center 

The opening of the AIIC builds on the HKAG and Microsoft joint announcement made in May to cooperate on the development of the next generation of in-car infotainment systems.

The AIIC will focus on uncovering new IT technologies for automobiles by supporting research and development activities of small and medium IT companies based in Korea.  HKAG will provide the facilities and cars for technical testing and vehicle application, while Microsoft will assume responsibility for software development and launch into the global market.  IITA will extend financial support to eligible small and medium IT enterprises.  The Center will support about 20 companies a year for three years, helping the most promising candidates develop into global players in the automotive IT sector.

The technologies developed at AIIC are scheduled for gradual application in Kia cars beginning in the second half of 2010.  The IT center will focus on developing technologies such as auto telecommunication, telematics, navigation systems and Location Based Service (LBS), and improving the Human Machine Interface (HMI).

The IITA will provide as much as 200 million won per project in funding for outstanding small- and medium-sized companies, as well as working with the Ministry of Knowledge Economy to provide more policy support.  

Kia & Microsoft 

Kia and Microsoft entered into a long-term agreement to co-develop the next generation of in-car infotainment systems in May. The two companies agreed to deliver new and innovative solutions based on the Microsoft Auto software platform, bringing the future of in-car technology to Kia drivers worldwide.

The first product, a next-generation infotainment system that provides voice-controlled connectivity between mobile devices, will be introduced in the North American market in 2010. It will further apply to Asian and European markets, and expand into multimedia and navigation devices. These easy-to-use infotainment systems will allow consumers to enjoy music in various digital formats.

Also, last month, Kia Motors announced that it is a global sponsor of RoboChamps 2008, Microsoft’s virtual-world robotics competition. The sponsorship is designed to encourage the nurturing of professionals specializing in intelligent, autonomous automotive technology as well as further research and interest in auto-IT convergence. For more information on RoboChamps, please visit www.robochamps.com.