Hyundai plans to invest $3.3 billion in green cars
Hyundai plans to invest huge amounts of money into research and development of green cars, such as hybrid, plug-in and hydrogen powered cars.
Hyundai Motor Company plans a massive investment in eco-projects over the next three and a half years. The Korean largest carmaker plans to invest more than $3 billion in reducing CO2 emissions and developing a range of eco-friendly cars by 2013.
The money will be spent on developing a range of new hybrid cars that will feature more fuel efficient gasoline and diesel engines, more sophisticated transmissions (dual-clutch gearbox), next–generation hybrid systems and new technologies such as integrated Stop and Go system and gasoline direct injection (GDI) to mention just a few. Hyundai also plans to tweak manufacturing technologies in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions from car plants.
A few months ago, Hyundai introduced its new eco-friendly sub-brand, called Blue Drive, which will bring a host of new eco-friendly technologies and models to the global market. The company’s first vehicle that went on sale on sale in
Following Elantra LPi hybrid will be a range of other eco-friendly cars such as Sonata gas-electric powered hybrid in late 2010 and a plug-in hybrid car scheduled to go on sale in late 2012 or early 2013. Hyundai has also revealed it plans to bring a hydrogen powered fuel-cell vehicle to the market sometime in 2012.
Hyundai is also confident that afore-mentioned investment, planned for the next four years, will make it possible to become the first automaker in the US to be able to meet the new US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard of 35 mpg by 2015, five years ahead of the federally mandated deadline of 2020.
