Hyundai Motor launches 'Hyundai Universal Solution' project to support mobility-challenged passengers

Hyundai Motor announced Tuesday it is launching a new social contribution project called "Hyundai Universal Solution," starting in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, to improve mobility for transportation-disadvantaged passengers.

The company held a vehicle donation ceremony at Seosan City Hall on Monday, attended by Seosan Mayor Lee Wan-seop, Jeon Hyeon-cheol, head of Hyundai Motor's Business Development and Sustainability Management Division, and other officials from both organizations, formally kicking off the project.

"Hyundai Universal Solution" was designed to improve access to essential public services — including education, medical care and welfare — by developing and providing specialized vehicles for pregnant women, people with disabilities, the elderly and residents in underserved areas.

Hyundai Motor selected Seosan as the first city for the project, citing the city's total fertility rate, which exceeds both the national and South Chungcheong Province averages despite a broader trend of population decline and a rising share of elderly residents.

The donated vehicle is based on Hyundai Motor's electrified purpose-built vehicle (PBV) ST1. It offers a comfortable and safe riding environment through four features: a low-noise, low-vibration ride enabled by an electric vehicle-dedicated platform; a low-floor body with high interior headroom; an automatic sliding step for easy boarding; and an AI-powered guide that detects vehicles approaching from the rear and sides when passengers board and alight.

The vehicle also incorporates maternity-specific features developed through in-depth interviews with pregnant women, including a stroller storage space created by removing the front passenger seat, a dedicated seatbelt designed to minimize abdominal pressure, and a 360-degree rotating infant seat.

Hyundai Motor and Seosan plan to recruit riders among pregnant women residing in the city who are at least 16 weeks along or within six months postpartum, and to deploy the vehicle on a dedicated maternity route connecting Seongyeon-myeon and the city center starting in September.

The vehicle runs on Hyundai Motor Group's demand-responsive transit platform Shucle, allowing users to hail a ride anywhere within the service area via a smartphone app and board or alight at their preferred location, with the vehicle following the optimal route calculated by AI.

Hyundai Motor and Seosan will also assign seats with consideration for passenger convenience — for example, placing users traveling with newborns in seats adjacent to the infant seat — and set fares at the same level as city bus rates.

In addition, the company plans to partner with civic group the Safe Life Practice Citizens' Coalition to provide vehicle usage guidance and traffic safety education, and to work with venture firm LBS Tech to build a map offering pedestrian information — including obstacles, elevators and ramps — from drop-off points to final destinations.

Starting with the Seosan project, Hyundai Motor plans to continuously expand the groups and regions covered by "Hyundai Universal Solution" beyond pregnant women to include people with disabilities, the elderly and residents in underserved communities.

"Through 'Hyundai Universal Solution,' we will fulfill our social responsibility by reducing the everyday inconveniences faced by transportation-disadvantaged individuals and contributing to the expansion of their right to mobility," a Hyundai Motor official said.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor has been carrying out a range of support activities as part of its corporate social responsibility commitments — including signing a memorandum of understanding on vehicle support for the first Korea-Central Asia Summit with the summit's preparatory planning committee at Seo Hee Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on Monday.