Hyundai, Kia unveils EV concepts at China expo

By Choi Kyong-ae

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top two leading automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. -- on Tuesday unveiled their electric vehicle concepts at a Chinese import exhibition.

Hyundai Motor introduced its all-electric concept '45' at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) being held in Shanghai from Nov. 5-10, according to Hyundai Motor.

The EV concept 45 was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Kia Motors' EV coupe concept 'Futuron' also made its world premiere at the Shanghai exhibition.

"Hyundai Motor Group aims to promote its next-generation vehicles and future mobility technologies to Chinese customers in the Shanghai import expo," Hyundai said in a statement.

The EV concept 45 adopts Hyundai's next-generation design direction of "sensuous sportiness," which is defined by the harmony of four fundamental elements in vehicle design: proportion, architecture, styling and technology.

The number represents the 45 years since 1974, when the Korean carmaker unveiled the Pony Coupe Concept at the Torino Motor Show.

Kia Motors' Futuron shows the carmaker's design directions in upcoming pure electric vehicles. Futuron, an abbreviated version of 'future is on,' adopts the carmaker's future design direction of "dynamic purity," which is defined by a combination of basic structure and dynamic character lines, the statement said.

Hyundai Motor also displayed the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle and the hydrogen-powered truck concept 'Neptune,' which was unveiled at the 2019 North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta last month.

The maker of the Sonata sedan and Palisade sport-utility vehicle also introduced the hydrogen-powered GV80 SUV concept and the premium EV city car concept 'Mint Concept' under its independent luxury brand Genesis. The Mint Concept was unveiled at Monterey Car Week 2019, a U.S. luxury car exhibition, in August.

Separately, the company plans to launch the GV80 SUV with a combustion engine in the South Korean market later this month to meet rising demand for recreational vehicles.

Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, have suffered declining sales in China since 2017, when Beijing retaliated economically against Seoul over the deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-missile defense system in South Korea.

In the January-September period, their combined sales in China fell 33 percent to 642,995 vehicles from 959,056 units a year earlier.

kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
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