Automotive News Europe - December 2017 - Talk from the Top Supplement - 10

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

TALK FROM THE TOP

Transition time
Hyundai exec outlines 10-model electrification offensive for Europe

yundai has big plans to electrify
its European lineup. Along with
battery-powered models and plug-in
hybrids, the automaker's product offensive will include an additional twist:
fuel cell vehicles. Hyundai Europe Chief
Operating Officer Thomas Schmid is
overseeing the transition. He shared
details with Automotive News Europe
Correspondent Andrea Malan.
How is Hyundai expanding its product range?
We need products that serve several
segments in size and demographics. We
know it will not be easy to become the
No. 1 Asian brand in Europe, so we have
to try and be different. One example is the
shrinking small minivan segment where
our ix20 will most likely not be replaced
at the end of its life cycle. Current owners will then buy a Kona [small SUV], or
maybe a different model of the same size,
but with a different body style. You will
hear more from us next year about this.
Could you sum up Hyundai Europe's
electrification strategy?
In Europe, we will have 10 electrified
models with four full-electric vehicles
plus hybrids and plug-in hybrids by
2020. This is the right mix for this transition period.
What's your market outlook for 2022?
I don't believe full electric will be the
solution because even five years from
now the infrastructure won't be sufficient. You need half an hour to reach
an 80 percent recharge, so if you have
hundreds of cars on the motorway you
would need a lot of charging stations.
It will take time. During the transition
phase, plug-in hybrids and hybrids will
be a solution for long distance travel. For
cities, full-electric could work. Altogether, these alternative propulsion modes,
including fuel cells, could reach 20 percent of the market in five years.
Won't EVs be too expensive to make
them competitive in big cities?
If you want to reach mass production, it's
clear that prices have to decrease. For
premium brands such as Smart, price is

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not an issue so for them it might work.
As for Hyundai and its competitors, it
will depend on the price of components.
Are diesel engines doomed?
Diesel will still exist, although its share
will steadily decline across Europe. My
forecast is for a 30 percent market
share in five years [down from 49.5
percent in 2016, according to industry
group ACEA].
Hyundai has also announced a new
fuel cell SUV for next year. What are
your expectations?
It will have an 800km range, like a normal car, and autonomous capabilities.
European sales will start next year. The
volume will most likely be in the hundreds, as the demand is higher than
what we can deliver. So far we have 600
fuel cell vehicles on the road in Europe.
Hopefully we'll increase it by 100 to 150
units next year.
What is the biggest hurdle for fuel
cell vehicles?
Infrastructure. Our main customer is a
taxi company in Paris [that ordered 60
units of the ix35 fuel cell in late 2016].
They have a re-fueling station in cooperation with Air Liquide near Pont de
l'Alma in Paris. We are also present in
Denmark, Norway and in the Munich
area of Germany. The infrastructure
across Europe is still very fragmented.
What is Hyundai doing to solve the
infrastructure problem?
It is a chicken-and-egg problem. We are
cooperating with the companies that
provide refueling stations. In Munich it
is Linde. Denmark currently has the best
infrastructure and you can drive across
the country using a fuel cell car. In Germany, we only have 36 re-fueling stations. You can't even drive from Frankfurt to Berlin and back. But that's better
than Italy, where only one hydrogen fuel
station exists, in Bolzano.
Will the slow move to electrified cars
allow new entrants step in and perhaps surpass today's established
brands over the next 10 years?

Meet the COO
❚ NAME: Thomas Schmid
❚ T
ITLE:

Hyundai Europe COO

❚ AGE: 58
❚ M
AIN CHALLENGE:

Making Hyundai the
No. 1-selling Asian brand
in Europe by 2021.

I don't believe the landscape will change
significantly. On one hand there will be
newcomers, for example from China or
the U.S., such as Tesla. An electric vehicle is much simpler to manufacture. On
the other hand, the deep knowledge of
manufacturing processes will remain a
competitive advantage. We will still see
the current brands, but consolidation
will happen: There will be more deals like
PSA-Opel, or maybe Fiat Chrysler with a
Chinese manufacturer.
In this landscape, how will Hyundai
move upscale?
By offering quality, reliability and real
customer orientation. Then you have the
packaging of the vehicle: connectivity,
safety, and so on. ANE

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2017

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