Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Company is stepping up efforts to develop fuel-efficient cars that run on a combination of gasoline and electricity.

Company officials said the introduction of hybrid cars should come around 2007 or possibly earlier.

"The bottom line here is introducing the hybrid as soon as possible. We are doing our best to get it ready for launch. The remaining works now are safety testing and tuning," says Kim Chul-soo, senior researcher at Hyundai Motor.