Hyundai Mobis employees show how to operate the M.VISION X concept during a media event held at the company’s R&D center in Yongin, 50 km southeast of Seoul, on March 31, 2021, in this photo provided by the company.
YONGIN, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s leading auto parts maker, said Wednesday it will seek to transform itself from a traditional auto parts maker into a future mobility services and platform provider.
“Auto parts makers are required to make a structural reform in their business portfolios as carmakers are integrating (vehicle) products and services to offer new mobility platforms,” Hyundai Mobis Executive Vice President Jung Soo-kyung said in a press conference.
The company will focus on developing its future mobility technologies, such as autonomous driving, electrification and connectivity; explore new mobility service opportunities in global markets; and develop the electrified propulsion system for urban air mobility (UAM) as a future growth driver, the statement said.
Also, Hyundai Mobis plans to make an investment in overseas startups with advanced technologies in future car technologies and targets to sell its future vehicle solutions to overseas carmakers, the executive said.
In its latest partnership, the company invested US$50 million in U.S. light detection and ranging (LiDAR) company Velodyne Lidar for autonomous driving technologies to mass-produce Level 3 autonomous driving systems by 2021.
LiDAR is a key component in the overall sensing package required to make autonomous cars a reality.
A Level 3 car, if fully developed, will allow lane changes and other autonomous driving functions to work without intervention by the driver.
This photo provided by Hyundai Mobis shows the M.VISION POP concept at the company’s R&D center in Yongin, 50 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on March 31, 2021.
On Wednesday, the company also introduced the M.VISION X and the M.VISION POP concept cars with the Level 4 self-driving automation technology at its R&D center in Yongin, 50 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
At Level 4, a vehicle can drive itself under limited conditions and will not operate if all required conditions are not satisfied. At Level 5, a vehicle’s automated driving features can drive under any conditions.
“The company is targeting to launch the two-seat M.VISION POP model with the Level 3 technology in the markets within five years,” the executive said.
Hyundai Mobis said it aims to provide new mobility services in global markets based on its future mobility technologies.
The company has partnered with Russian internet search firm Yandex to develop a driverless riding platform “self-driving robo-taxi” based on Hyundai Motor Co.’s Sonata midsize sedan
Hyundai and Yandex have been testing 100 robo-taxis with the Level 4 autonomous technology in Moscow since 2019.
Its parent Hyundai Motor Group aims to bring its UAM vehicle to the market by 2028. UAM is a key future innovation business that can help overcome urban challenges like traffic congestion by connecting the sky and the ground.
To help achieve the new strategy, the company plans to increase investments in R&D activities to 1.7 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in 2025 from the current 1 trillion won.
(Yonhap)
