Hyundai’s Supernal electric vertical takeoff and landing startup cut 80% of its California workforce last month as it pivots to a long-term strategy for aircraft development, a spokesman said Monday.

The company, which moved its headquarters to Irvine from Washington, D.C. in 2023, laid off 296 employees Feb. 27 at Supernal’s Orange County operations along Laguna Canyon Road and Waterworks Way and at facilities in Fremont and its Mojave test site, the spokesman confirmed in a statement.

The company has not yet made a state filing announcing the layoffs with the Employment Development Department. The news was first reported by the Orange County Business Journal.

“This decision is a strategic pivot to ensure our staffing and cost structures are optimized for the long-term delivery of our market-aligned aircraft design,” the spokesman said. Hyundai Motor Group remains committed to the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) business as part of its future mobility vision, and Supernal will continue to serve as the group’s dedicated AAM execution arm for aircraft development.”

The spokesman said Supernal’s focus “remains on stabilizing the company, shaping a new business model, and developing a commercially viable aircraft.”

He said all of the company’s work would be consolidated to its Irvine headquarters.

Last September, Hyundai Motor Group shook up leadership at its $1.7 billion Supernal electric aircraft startup.

The concept, which paused its aircraft programs to evaluate next steps, has been slow to demonstrate its autonomous flying technology at a test facility at the Mojave Air & Space Port. Meanwhile, rivals have surged ahead with development of their own “electric vertical take-off and landing” aircrafts, or eVTOL.

The South Korean automaker said Jaiwon Shin resigned Aug. 31 as Supernal’s chief executive officer of Hyundai’s Advanced Air Mobility Division and was moved into an adviser role to help transition new leadership.

Following last summer’s layoffs of 10% of its workforce in California, the company said it would have 500 workers remaining throughout the company.

The spokesman said between 70-80 employees remain at Supernal.

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