South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor and Israeli mobility firm Taavura have forged a partnership to seek business opportunities in future mobility, the companies said Tuesday.

Established in 1955, Taavura is a logistics service firm that transports ground and air cargo and also imports and distributes vehicles as well as providing public transportation services. The Israeli company has been seeking to transform into an innovative company in the Middle East, expanding its business to information technology, data and cyber security.

The company plans to establish a Taavura Innovation Center this year to nurture Israeli budding enterprises and secure its innovative technology in smart mobility, transportation, logistics and energy.

Under the partnership, Hyundai Motor and Taavura will collaborate on a study of new technology trends and seek new business opportunities together, the company in Seoul said in a statement. Hyundai will also participate in a startup support program at Taavura Innovation Center and consider investments on promising startups there. 

“Israel is one of a few countries in the world that has a rich pool of talented startups,” Sull Won-hee, executive vice president and head of Hyundai Motor’s Technology Innovation Center.

“By utilizing Taavura’s infrastructure and its position in Israel’s mobility industry, we expect to discover promising startups and speed up the process of testing (new) technology and business models.”

Shai Livnat, CEO of Taavura group, added, “Taavura is proud to partner with a strong and highly respected global automotive player in order to further drive innovation for future mobility solutions based on Israeli ingenuity and innovation.”

Hyundai has been seeking business opportunities in Israel in recent years.

Through a startup incubator launched in November in Tel Aviv, Hyundai Motor signed a series of strategic partnerships with Israeli startups including allegro.ai., a developer of computer vision technologies; Percepto, a drone maker; and energy firm H2 Pro.

In June, Hyundai also announced its investment in Israeli technology startup MDGo which provides a connected mobility service that automatically calls an ambulance in case of car accidents.

Hyundai and its sister company Kia Motors are the largest and second-largest carmakers by sales in Israel. In 2018, the two sold a combined 73,828 cars in the Middle Eastern country, accounting for 27.6 percent of the market share there.

In July, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said he hopes to see expanding cooperation between the Middle East country’s startups and South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor in the fields of smart, connected and green mobility. Rivlin also visited the carmaker’s R&D Center in Namyang, Gyeonggi Province, during his five-day official visit to South Korea. 


By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)