Hyundai Motor Co., the largest automaker in South Korea, said today that it is considering investing approximately 1 trillion won ($869 million) in research and development and producing 10,000 hybrid electric vehicles (Hybrid) by 2010.
Hyundai said it expects to start production of a so-called new petrol and hybrid car sedan from the end of 2005 to replace its Verna car, which will also be the first hybrid gasoline and cum hybrid vehicle to be produced in South Korea.
Hyundai Motors, which hopes to become one of the top five automakers in the world by 2010, is entering the development of hybrid electric vehicles to compete with Japan’s Toyota Motors and Honda Motors for their competitors.
In 1997, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. took the lead in the global launch of the Pruis, a mass-produced automobile for hybrid systems. The so-called hybrid vehicle is powered by an electric motor and a gasoline engine engine. For Prius, its heart is Toyota's revolutionary co-existing driving system that combines an electric motor with an internal combustion engine to achieve the best performance and lowest exhaust emissions.