Hyundai's Ioniq name represents its eco cars that supply efficiency without the perils of science project looks, but the Korean automaker has other aspirations for the name. By bestowing a futuristic project with the Ioniq name, Hyundai hopes to show us how it plans to move into the future using a decree (Project Ioniq) and its physical manifestation via its three Ioniq cars. The study is run by Dr. Soon Jong Lee from Seoul's National University and details 12 trends that Hyundai's researchers think will reshape transportation by 2030.

These are: 1) Hyper-connected Society 2) Hyper-aging Society 3) Eco-ism 4) Multi-Layered Mash-up 5) Context-awareness-based Individualization 6) High Concept Society 7) Decentralization of Power 8) Anxiety and Chaos 9) Sharing Society 10) Co-evolution 11) Mega-urbanization 12) Neo-frontierism. Hyundai predicts the society of the future to be very interesting, slightly unnerving, and old. Low birth rates will be reflected in the population of the future, with senior citizens making up 20% of the population. This means workforce will be reduced, but so will the availability of jobs as robots and AI take over some of the more menial labors. Using a sharing-based economy and greater access to manufacturing tools like 3D printers, creative work will become prized.

Some of the problems that currently plague us like terrorism and cyber security will still be prevalent, fostering the need for automakers to work with the faculty and effectiveness of the NSA to keep autonomous cars safe from hackers who may want to reenact the terrorist attacks in Nice, France by orchestrating the whole thing while sitting behind a laptop. These predictions do little to help us see how Hyundai's brand will evolve (as cavemen, we just want to see its N Performance brand give our Genesis Coupes more horsepower), but for now we can expect things to get weird as more autonomous vehicles hit the market. Check out the study for yourself to see Hyundai's in-depth analysis.