Hyundai Stages Massive Truck & Bus Megafair in Korea

Hyundai Motor Company held a massive event over the weekend, the Hyundai 2017 Truck & Bus Megafair, at the expansive outdoor area of the KINTEX Exhibition Center II in Goyang, South Korea.

Held from May 25 to 28 in a 90,000 sqm area, the Hyundai 2017 Truck & Bus Megafair saw over 170 vehicles--around 50 commercial vehicles and roughly 100 specialized vehicles--from Hyundai and its specialized vehicle manufacturing partners on display in three distinct areas.

The Grand Experience section showed off Hyundai's impressive commercial vehicle business, from the display of its entire production lineup to showcasing the features the manufacturer is working on for its future vehicles, like "Platooning" where a lead vehicle that's controlled by a driver in the cabin leads two or more similar vehicles that are operating autonomously and relies on signals transmitted by computers between the vehicles.

Also part of the Grand Experience is the vehicle exhibition of specialized vehicle manufacturers so truck and bus customers can readily talk to the suppliers of the vehicle they need--all based on Hyundai vehicles, of course. So those looking for construction trucks can discuss their needs with those that make cranes, elevated platforms, or concrete pump trucks while those in the liquid transport business can meet with tanker truck manufacturers.

The Grand Experience area is also where Hyundai launched and put on display its first mass-produced, all-electric bus, the Elec City, which we first reported about earlier this month.

The Joyful Experience section featured a wide range of activities for everyone. Food trucks based on Hyundai vehicles sold different kinds of delicacies, from traditional Korean street food fare to foreign snacks like churros. Various prizes were also given away to participants who played in the area for games while another area served as the venue for various guest performers.

Of course, an event that featured brand-new vehicles isn't complete without a test drive area and the Hyundai 2017 Truck & Bus Megafair certainly didn't disappoint with its Driving Experience as various models were available for drivers who had the required vehicle license rating. For those who didn't though, they were allowed to ride the vehicles that were operated by Hyundai's in-house drivers. The area also held a Driving Skills Challenge which featured tractor-head drivers taking on extreme challenges to showcase their driving skills, with the winner receiving a prize money of five million Won (nearly P223,000).

As it turned out, the four-day event was a big one for those whose businesses involved such vehicles that we saw executives from major construction firms in the country who had visited the show, like former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando who owns BF Corporation, which has under its corporate umbrella BF Construction and BF Metal.

It's rare that, save for expos that target a specific market, commercial vehicles and buses are put on exhibit, and to see them on display in such scale as the Hyundai 2017 Truck & Bus Megafair makes it even more impressive as the Korean conglomerate lets the public know that it makes more than just cars and SUVs. That Hyundai's Philippine-market distributor, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), already has one commercial vehicle in its local assembly lineup in the H350 and that it's open to bringing in practically the entire lineup in Hyundai's commercial vehicle portfolio certainly speaks well of the Korean conglomerate and HARI's confidence in the local market.

You can check out the photos of some of the trucks ad buses we saw at the venue here.