While the automotive world is undergoing electrification, Hyundai’s vision of the future of mobility goes beyond just cars. Although the launch of the new Sonata was the highlight of its presentation, there is much more to its booth at the 2023 Seoul Mobility Show.

If you’ve watched enough science-fiction shows, the presence of robots in daily life shouldn’t be a foreign idea. With Hyundai’s concept of the “Mobility of Things,” ordinary inanimate objects can be motorized via Plug and Drive modules. These combine the drivetrain and the control system into a single unit, and can be configured in several ways, making them highly versatile for everyday use.

Hyundai Mobis started out as a components manufacturer. And now, it has rebranded itself as a mobility solutions company with its name meaning “Mobility Beyond Integrated Solution.” One example of its integrated solutions that was shown is the M. Vision TO (as in “toward the future”).

Currently, car pillars don’t serve any other purpose other than supporting the body. But Hyundai was able to integrate control devices—such as cameras, radars, and LIDAR sensors—into the pillar with its Integrated Pillar Drive System. As a result, this technology allows interior space to be maximized for different purpose-built vehicles.

Hyundai has also made it clear that it is dabbling in urban air mobility, but there aren’t any flying vehicles just yet. All of these are just the tip of the iceberg—the building blocks for the brand’s vision of a smart city, a society where everyone and everything is interconnected through technology.

If you think that Hyundai is just a Korean car manufacturer, think again.