•Hyundai Motor receives significant PwC and CAM awards for pioneering product strategy
•The awards were accepted by Jürgen Keller, Managing Director Hyundai Motor Germany
•Hyundai Kona Electric and NEXO were noted as important innovation drivers
Hyundai has received two further major awards for the future-oriented direction of its drive technologies. The company was honoured for the first time as ‘Most Innovative Volume Brand’ and ‘Most Innovative Volume Brand – Alternative Drives’ at the 2019 AutomotiveINNOVATIONS Awards evening by the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Jürgen Keller, Managing Director of Hyundai Motor Germany, accepted the prizes at a festive gala event in the Sky Lobby on the 48th floor of the PwC company headquarters. “Hyundai has been committed to sustainability for a long time,” said Keller. “The company’s words were followed by deeds that resulted in numerous innovations. Hyundai is currently the only manufacturer in the world to offer all major alternative drive forms in its series production: full-electric, hybrid, 48-volt mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell.”
Kona Electric – the electric car with the highest range in the small SUV segment
The innovations in alternative drive systems earned Hyundai success in the ‘Most Innovative Volume Brand’ category, which Hyundai completed with a total of 43 index points ahead of Ford and VW. “One of the reasons for this is the particularly high proportion of innovations (almost 18 per cent) that can be attributed to alternative drive systems,” according to the jury’s statement. These include, for example, the Hyundai Kona Electric, the most wide-ranging battery electric vehicle in the small SUV segment.
NEXO impresses with higher efficiency
The jury also considers the Hyundai NEXO to be one of the most important innovators: “In addition to its fuel cell drive, it features a Blind Spot View Monitor, the Highway Driving Assist function and the Remote Parking function, which enables a vehicle to be parked fully automatically for the first time in this segment.”
Hyundai Kona Electric and NEXO also play a decisive role in the presentation of the ‘Most Innovative Volume Brand – Alternative Drives’ award. With the new NEXO, Hyundai is already offering the second generation Fuel Cell vehicle after the 2013 released ix35 Fuel Cell, which is the world’s first series-produced fuel cell vehicle.
The range of 666 kilometres (according to WLTP standard) also played an important role, making the NEXO the ideal alternative drive option for long distances.
CAM database as basis for innovation study
The awards are based on a study among car manufacturers and suppliers, and on the CAM database of the independent scientific institute for empirical automotive and mobility research Center of Automotive Management in Bergisch-Gladbach, which is headed by the well-known car expert Prof. Dr. Stefan Bratzel.
The most outstanding innovations of the year within the automotive industry are determined based on this data.
