Hyundai steps up mobility game with new R&D centre in Bozeman

Hyundai is aiming to define mobility like no other. The Hyundai New Horizons Studio (NHS), the automaker's unit that focuses on the development of Ultimate Mobility Vehicles (UMVs) announced that it will open a research, development and lab centre in Bozeman, Montana. Hyundai has invested around $20 million in the NHS Bozeman that intends to redefine transportation with accessible, sustainable and smart mobility solutions. The new facility will serve as NHS headquarters and will support prototyping, field testing and application development for UMVs, informed Hyundai.

Hyundai's New Horizons Studio Bozeman facility will extensively focus on product design and development, market research and assessment, testing operations, composted material development and testing, next-generation vehicle architectures and end-user/commercial production and smart assembly. The studio also plans to add more than 50 full-time jobs at the location over the next five years, added Hyundai. The facility will officially start work next month.

Head of New Horizons Studio and vice president, Hyundai Motor Group John Suh stated Bozeman is perfect for its latest research and development facility because of its multiple off-road trails and terrains that will help in testing UMVs. The usage of UMVs include natural resource management, disaster management, all-urban and rural logistics, construction, mining and space resource development. At NHS Bozeman, the team will initially focus on refining the development, testing and deployment of two UMV models.

One of these models has been inspired by Elevate which is a larger vehicle with robotic legs that can address challenging driving situations and can also potentially save lives as the first responder in situations of natural disasters.