Hyundai Mobis, South Korea’s largest car parts manufacturer, said Thursday it will invest 1.8 trillion won ($1.75 billion) into research and development by next year to improve its global competitiveness.

The company, an affiliate of the world’s fifth-largest automotive group Hyundai Motor Group, said in its latest sustainable growth report that the injection is part of a greater goal of becoming one of the global top five in the industry by 2020. At present, the company ranks eighth overall.

The spike in R&D actually began last year when the company spent 424 billion won, or 17.8 percent more than 2012, to enhance its technical prowess and maintain buoyancy. The company said more efforts will be made to develop eco-friendly and smart safety technologies.

Besides R&D, the company plans to increase the number of research personnel and highly-skilled engineers to at least 3,000 from 2,243 in 2013.

It said employees will be encouraged to seek more patents and work with partner companies to make the best products. Last year, employees submitted 1,309 requests for patents and participated in 34 eco-friendly, state-funded policy development projects. (Yonhap)