Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s top automaker, said on Monday that it was seeking to secure rare earth metals used in electric and hybrid cars, as the industry braces for a possible shortage of the minerals.
Rare earth metals like neodymium are used in the powerful magnets in motors that are a key component for electric and hybrid cars. China produces 97 percent of the world’s rare earth metals, but Beijing set 2010 export quotas 40 percent lower than 2009 levels, raising alarm among buyer nations.
Hyundai Motor, the world’s fifth-biggest carmaker along with Kia Motors, proposed in a regulatory filing on Friday a change in its articles of incorporation to “secure resources for the development of eco-friendly vehicles.”
The proposal is subject to approval at a shareholder’s meeting on March 11.
“We will make efforts to vigorously secure rare earths and other rare resources used in cars,” a spokesperson said.
The move comes as Hyundai is joining a list of carmakers rolling out electric cars as CO2 emissions rules are toughening.
While its bigger rivals such as General Motors and Toyota are betting on plug-in hybrid or hybrid electric cars, Hyundai has been slow in tapping into the electric car market, focusing more on fuel-efficient gasoline models.
Hyundai Motor rolled out an hybrid version of its Sonata sedan in the United States in January, which was its first overseas hybrid model. Kia plans to roll out a hybrid Optima sedan in the United States in the first half.
Hyundai Motor plans to mass-produce pure electric vehicles next year after a test-run of its BlueOn cars this year, according to Hyundai Motor Group vice chairman Lee Hyun-soon.
