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 Hyundai Motor Group said on Wednesday it has developed the world's first automated system for designing vehicle press molds, allowing drastic reduction in design time and quality improvement in the automobile production process. 

Press molds are tools used to produce exterior parts, such as trunks and hoods, and each part requires three to five press operations, with different molds used for each step.

The group said it has standardised the technical documents and design conditions for mold design and integrated the previously scattered design processes into a single system, reports Yonhap news agency.

The system allows designers to simply input the necessary values step by step into the system, which then automatically generates the optimal design blueprint for the press mold.

The company said the mold design time can be reduced by over 75 percent, and design errors can be eliminated through its new system, leading to improved quality.

Hyundai Motor and Kia have been applying this system partially since 2020, and they have recently completed the development of the system that can be utilised for the design of molds in all press operations.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Mobis, South Korea's leading automotive parts maker, said on Wednesday it has signed an investment agreement worth some 350 billion won ($256.2 million) with the Slovak government to build manufacturing facilities for electric vehicle (EV) parts in the European country.

It has signed the agreement with the Slovak government to build a 250 billion-won production base for producing power electric (PE) systems, a key EV component, in Novaky, Slovakia.

The company also plans to construct a 95 billion-won factory for EV braking systems within its existing facility in Zilina. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hyundai Mobis President Lee Gyu-suk attended a signing ceremony in Bratislava.

The company said it plans to leverage its new electrification hub in Slovakia as a strategic foothold for expanding its presence in the European EV market.