[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyungsoo] Gyeongchang Industry is showing strong performance. Hyundai Motor Company, which announced its carbon neutrality vision, revealed its goal to increase the proportion of electric vehicles to 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2040, which appears to have influenced the stock price.
As of 10 a.m. on the 8th, Gyeongchang Industry is trading at 3,570 KRW, up 20.2%.
Gyeongchang Industry entered the electric vehicle drive module system market last year. It took charge of production at Hyundai Mobis's new electrification plant. It specializes in producing drive modules for electric vehicles. A drive module combines a motor, inverter, and reducer. The company plans to produce drive module systems for Hyundai Motor's electric vehicles.
According to Gyeongchang Industry's semi-annual report, it has been collaborating with Hyundai Mobis to produce drive modules for electric vehicles since last year. Mass production began in the first half of the year, and the company expects growth in the electric vehicle parts industry by strengthening related research and development. To overcome the limitations of the domestic market, it has secured substantial orders from companies such as Dongan and BorgWarner by pioneering export channels. The company is focusing on cooperation with global automobile manufacturers. It has assessed that product unit prices will not fluctuate significantly within the scope of received orders. Overseas product unit prices, including all costs, are more competitive than domestic prices, so higher profits are expected.
Gyeongchang Industry explained that due to automation, products are delivered to customers with minimal inspection work and have met customer satisfaction, with no major issues such as claims reported so far.
Gyeongchang Industry is also preparing for the future car era by leveraging its experience in producing internal combustion engine parts. The core of Gyeongchang Industry is the development of next-generation electric motors. It is important that electric motors deliver maximum efficiency in a small volume. The company shifted its expertise, previously focused on automatic transmissions, to electric motors and began operating an electrification plant in mid-last year. It also established its own research team.
To foster next-generation drive motors, which are original patented technologies of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, as a regionally specialized industry, Gyeongchang Industry signed a business agreement with Daegu City and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology. An industry-academia-research development system was established to specialize in drive module technology.
Motors are considered the second most important component after batteries in electric vehicles. They are core components common to electric vehicles, robots, and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) sectors. In electric vehicles, motors are the second most expensive component after batteries and are among the parts that determine vehicle performance. There is also a forecast that the global electric vehicle drive system market will grow about 12 times from 5 trillion KRW last year to 60 trillion KRW by 2030.
Jinwoo Kim, a researcher at Korea Investment & Securities, explained, "While batteries and HVAC parts are well known as key components of electric vehicles, motors are relatively less known," adding, "This is because most automakers internalize motors like engines, so the market has not yet been fully formed."
Energy efficiency is sensitive to motor technology. Fuel efficiency and energy efficiency are not determined solely by the engine or motor. Just as fuel efficiency is affected by vehicle weight, air resistance, power system efficiency (including batteries), and tire size, energy efficiency is also influenced by these factors. In electric vehicles, since many components use electric energy, power system efficiency is crucial. In the past, power system efficiency was mainly evaluated based on batteries, but going forward, the efficiency of the entire power system within the vehicle, including the drive system and motor, is expected to gain importance. Researcher Jinwoo Kim predicted, "Gyeongchang Industry is expanding its domain from transmission parts to motors," and "After achieving a turnaround through restructuring, it will participate in operating Hyundai Mobis's motor plant starting this year, leading to increased motor-related sales."
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