Hyundai, Aptiv join forces to standardize autonomous driving platform by 2022

Hyundai Motors, a South Korean automotive manufacturer, and Aptiv, an Ireland-headquartered auto parts company, will establish a joint venture (JV) with an enterprise value of US$ 4 billion.

The 50-50 partnership will make a production-ready autonomous driving platform available for robotaxi providers, fleet operators, and automotive producers by 2022.

The JV will advance the design, development, and commercialization of SAE Level 4 and 5 self-driving technologies, as well as test fully autonomous driving systems in 2020.

Under the partnership, Aptiv will provide its self-driving technology, intellectual property, and around 700 employees working on the scalable autonomous driving solutions development.

Hyundai Motors and Aptiv to create $4bn autonomous driving joint venture. Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor Company.

Kevin Clark – president and CEO, Aptiv said: “This partnership further strengthens Aptiv’s industry-leading capabilities in the development of advanced driver assistance systems, vehicle connectivity solutions, and Smart Vehicle Architecture.

“Hyundai Motor Group’s cutting-edge engineering and R&D capabilities make them our partner of choice to advance the development of a production-ready autonomous platform.”

Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and Hyundai Mobis, affiliates of Hyundai Motors, will together contribute US$1.6 billion in cash at closing and US$0.4 billion in vehicle engineering services, R&D resources, and access to intellectual property.

Euisun Chung – executive vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group said: “The new joint venture marks the start of a journey with Aptiv toward our common goal of commercializing autonomous driving.

“The combined capabilities of Aptiv, a leading global technology company, and our Group, a global OEM, will create invaluable synergy to lead the autonomous driving landscape.”

As part of Hyundai Motors’ ongoing efforts to realize fully autonomous driving with the highest level of safety, the company, with a license from the Nevada state, first began testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in the US in 2015.

Aptiv conducted the first coast-to-coast automated drive in the US in 2015 and was the first to commercially deploy autonomous vehicles globally.

Subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed in the early second quarter of 2020.