Dayou A-Tech completes building EV seat production facility

Dayou A-Tech Co., a South Korean car seat manufacturer under the Dayou Winia Group, announced on Thursday that it has built a seat production facility exclusively for electric vehicles and would begin mass production in the second quarter of this year.

The company established the new seat production line for electric vehicles in the second plant of the seat division in Hwaseong to produce three-row seats for Kia Corp.'s medium-sized electric sports utility vehicle code-named MV, with plans to supply 70,000 electric vehicle seats annually.

The three-row car seats produced through the new line have an anti-pinch activation system that prevents passengers from being caught between the seats and a seat belt reminder sensor that detects whether the passenger is sitting in the seat.

Dayou A-Tech is currently optimizing the production line for full-scale mass production through production line inspection and prototype testing. Beginning in the second quarter, a large number of skilled workers will be put in to produce electric vehicle seats.

With the supply of electric SUV seats for Kia, the company expects that sales revenue from Kia in the Hwaseong Seat Division will increase by more than 15% this year.

Hyundai Motor Co.'s IONIQ 7's three-row seats, whose order was placed together with Kia's, will also be supplied in the first half of next year, with a volume of about 45,000 units per year.

Dayou A-Tech is also promoting an eco-friendly mobility business in line with the EV investment plans announced by Hyundai Motor and Kia last year.

The company aims to develop its own core new technology to preempt the future mobility market and increase its share in the domestic seat market.

Write to Hyung-Kyu Kim at khk@hankyung.com