Equus chosen as official car for summit Hyundai Motor Co. plans to provide a total of 424 cars to participants in the APEC 2005 summit to be held in Busan on November 12-19. Of these, 74 cars will be used for the heads of state while 350 will be assigned for other administrative support functions. By providing Equus limousines as the official car of the APEC summit, Hyundai hopes to show that the model, which is synonymous to the nation's most luxurious car, is not just a model for the domestic market but a highly prestigious car that can be cherished on the global market too. In addition to the Equus model that will be offered to the heads of state, Hyundai also plans to provide Grandeur and Sonata models, as well as buses and minivans. In the meantime, Hyundai said that Equus 4.5 models would be used as "mobile executive offices" for the heads of state during the summit so that the value and majesty of the car can be properly presented to not only the 21 world leaders, but also other government and business leaders. Moreover, Hyundai plans to make available bulletproof limousines for the safety of the world leaders. This model, which boasts a 270 horsepower engine, is capable of reaching a speed of 100 km/h in 10 seconds while its quiet interior makes it one of the smoothest-running automobiles in the world. Hyundai Motor Co. chairman Chung Mong-koo said that, as the model is also fully equipped with wireless Internet systems, it has high expectations that it will draw favorable responses from these world leaders when they encounter Hyundai cars. "The chances for this model to become more popular in overseas markets," said the chairman confidently, "are all the more bright as its engine has adopted a new catalyst technology that is environmentally-friendly." He said that the Equus cars to be used at the summit can hold their own against any other world-famous brands in the large and luxurious car category in terms of performance, reliability and other specs. "With Equus being chosen as the official car of the APEC meeting, we are eager to concentrate on making quality brands for another image boost," he added. To Hyundai, quality is to remain as the core driving force for the company's growth. In line with the company's slogan of developing cars that are to be defectfree for at least five years, Hyundai has set a goal of becoming one of the world's top- 10 quality car manufacturers by 2007. In the first place, Hyundai plans to achieve a productivity growth of 30 percent by 2005 by raising the level of modularization in car parts to 36 percent. In terms of technological aspects, Hyundai said that the 'hybrid' and '3-liter' models, which are designed to be more environmentally friendly, are at their final stages of development, while considerable achievements have also been made to a fuel cell powered model being developed in a joint project with International Fuel Cells Corp. and Ballard Power Systems.