Hyundai Motor Group (HMG), including Hyundai Motor and Kia Corporation, said it planned to invest KRW68trn (US$50bn) by 2026 to strengthen its electric vehicle (EV) operations, drive forward its software defined vehicle (SDV) strategy and develop future mobility "solutions".

In the next three years, the group’s average annual investment would increase 30% to KRW22.7trn from KRW17.5trn in 2023.

In addition to the two automakers, HMG also comprises several large companies including components manufacturer Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hyundai Rotem.

HMG said it planned to hire 80,000 new employees over the next three years, including 44,000 in vehicle electrification, SDVs and carbon neutrality.

The company expected an additional 118,000 new jobs would be created across its supply chain and sub-contractors as a result of its expansion.

HMG would also complete construction of a new KRW4.6trn headquarters, dubbed the Global Business Center (GBC), and comprising two connected 50 storey buildings, in Seoul by 2026.

The automaker said it planned to invest KRW31trn in research and development over the next three years to improve its product competitiveness and expand its EV model line to 31 models by 2030, by which time EV production capacity in South Korea would have increased to 1.51m units.

The company also earmarked KRW1.6trn for “strategic investments” in new mobility, software and autonomous driving technology.

HMG emphasised the importance it was placing on development of SDVs, whereby vehicles can be constantly upgraded with over the air (OTA) software updates, with plans to build an Advanced Vehicle Platform headquarters to lead its SDV projects.

Hyundai said all of its vehicles in production will eventually be SDVs.