Economy
Hyundai opens high-tech Singapore electric car factory
Hyundai’s Singapore EV factory, with 200 robots, officially opened. Key to their electrification strategy, it can make 30,000 vehicles yearly, integrating virtual and physical processes. A $300 million investment, producing IONIQ 5 and a “robotaxi,” with the IONIQ 6 coming next year, marks a return of high-value automation to Singapore.
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SINGAPORE — Hyundai opened a high-tech electric vehicle factory in Singapore on Tuesday that the South Korean auto giant says will be a “pillar” of its electrification strategy in the coming decades.
Half of the tasks at the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore will be done by 200 robots, and it will use new production methods that will move away from traditional conveyor belts, the company said in a statement.
The facility, which has been in operation since early this year but formally opened on Tuesday, can build 30,000 electric vehicles a year, according to the company.
The Singapore plant “will establish itself as one of two Hyundai Motor Group innovation pillars that will lead the company’s future in the electrification era over the next 50 years”, the statement said.
The facility “synchronises the virtual and physical worlds in real time”, enabling humans and robots “to cooperate in ways not seen before”, it added.
Human employees “can simulate tasks in the digital virtual space — or metaverse — while robots physically move components on the production line”.
The robots will do assembly, inspection and production facility organisation and perform more than 60 percent of component process management, ordering and transportation.
This will free up humans to focus on “more creative and productive duties”, the company said.
It did not give a value for the investment but previous media reports put it at 400 million Singapore dollars ($300 million).
The facility currently produces the IONIQ 5 electric vehicle and the fully autonomous IONIQ 5 “robotaxi”, which can operate without a driver. Hyundai will start building the IONIQ 6 sedan at the plant from next year.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who spoke at the opening ceremony, noted that decades ago Singapore was an assembly centre for vehicles, but high costs forced auto firms to shift to cheaper countries.
“Now quite unexpectedly we see some high-value automated industries coming back to Singapore again because… there is a paradigm shift in the entire automotive industry,” he said.
— AFP
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In land scared Singapore? Where everything are costly and will add a lot to the manufacturing total cost per car that is churned out
In the 70s 80s SK, Twn, HK, SG grouped together as world renown Asian Tigers or Asian Dragons. SK has Lucky Goldstar, SK Telecoms, World Champ Samsung, KIA Motors, Hyundai. Obviously this PAP won’t agree they have created a lizard 🦎 out of SG, and a Grown Dragon, Ferocious Tiger S Korea has fanged and devoured this USELESS PAP denigrated SG. One MUST NOT forget, SKorea went thru various dozens of labour strikes, N Korea threats and destructions – YET S Korea grew fr strength 💪🏻 to strength. Do S Korea practised POFMA, FICA needed to secure their country? The… Read more »
LW: “… decades ago Singapore was an assembly centre for vehicles, but high costs forced auto firms to shift to cheaper countries…“
We should ask him: Decades ago South Korea was nearly bankrupt, why are they today ahead of us? Perhaps due to changes of goverments?
How many Singaporeans are employed in this high-tech factory? 3000? 10,000? If you SGov gives out a big piece of land to build factory that employs only few Singaporeans (worst is when more foreigners than Singaporeans are employed), the ROI is not very good and it may affect the vote count….lol. That piece of land can used to build at least 20-storey industrial building. With every new foreign investment here, SGov only knows how to brag about the monetary number on how much is the investment in millions, but not the number of Singaporeans employed. This is as good as… Read more »
Frankly, S$400m foreign investment for such a supposedly hi-tech, high-volume factory is not high. Very quiet how many Singaporeans will be hired too.
Rather, we see why the pappies prefer to attract money laundered funds which the recent Fujian case easily topped 2.8 BILLIONS. Again, please go search where the main FDI into SG is from – from MNCs, Europe, USA, China, Japan/Korea, meh? Or from shell organizations?
The robots are STILL quite primitive I believe. Until we have one that uses vision so it can see what it is assembling and only needs to be shown once how to assemble the components/product and leaving it to then use AI to optimize the process.
Whereabouts and, what happen to James Dyson?