SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said on Wednesday it will invest 68 trillion won ($51 billion) over three years to bolster its growth potential in electric vehicles and new mobility business and separately hire 80,000 new employees.

More than half of the investment, or 35.5 trillion won, will be allocated for new research and development infrastructure and assembly lines for electric vehicles, the group said in a statement.

Another 31.1 trillion won will be slated for research and development in electric vehicles, including software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and battery technology, it said.

A majority of the new jobs created will be to promote future business, with 44,000 new staff in electrification, SDVs and carbon neutrality, it said.

Hyundai Motor Group includes flagship Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia, which together are the world's number three automaker by sales.

Automotive parts maker Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Engineering & Construction are also under the conglomerate.

($1 = 1,343.5000 won)