Hyundai Mobis opens first European EV power system plant in Slovakia

Hyundai Mobis has started mass production of Power Electric (PE) systems — critical components for EVs — at its new plant in Slovakia, the Korean auto parts manufacturer said on Thursday.

The 8,500-square-meter (91,493.2-square-foot) facility in Novaky in the Trencin Region will produce stators, inverters and other core electric motor components, with an annual capacity of 280,000 PE systems, enough for 280,000 EVs. 

Hyundai Mobis invested roughly 250 billion won ($183.8 million) in the project.

The Novaky plant marks Mobis’s first PE system facility in Europe and its third electrification production base on the continent, following battery system assembly plants in the Czech Republic and Spain.

Produced PE systems will initially supply EVs built by Hyundai Motor and Kia at their European plants, with plans to expand the client base to include European automakers, Mobis said. 

With its strong electrification push, Europe is the world’s second-largest EV market after China. 

“To realize Hyundai Mobis’s future vision, we will continue to invest and devote our efforts to establishing the Novaky PE system plant as a key electrification hub in Europe,” said Hyundai Mobis CEO Lee Gyu-suk during an opening ceremony on Wednesday. “Looking ahead, strategic models from global automakers equipped with Hyundai Mobis PE systems will lead the European electrification market.”

The company has set a target of raising the share of its revenue from foreign automakers to 40 percent by 2033. Currently, over 80 percent of its sales come from affiliates Hyundai Motor and Kia. 

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]