Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.(HHI) has developed an electric motor for feul-saving and environment-friendly hybrid cars.

A company official said Sunday it had test-run the experimental motor on Hyundai Motor's sports utility vehicle 'Tucson' during the past ten months. The new marvel is known to save fuel by as much as 50 percent and reduce car emissions. Also recharging is unnecessary, unlike fuel-cell cars.

The official said his company is the first to succeed in commercializing the new motor for a gas-electric hybrid system, following some Japanese firms.

Hyundai Motor will introduce the car model powered by the hybrid system late next year.

Hyundai Heavy Industries expects the electric motor market to reach 11.3 billion dollars worldwide by 2010.

With rising concerns on the environment and soaring oil prices, global automakers have stepped up efforts to develop energy-efficient vehicles.