Hyundai Motor Group and Aptiv are forming
an autonomous driving joint venture valued at $4 billion, according to a joint company announcement.
As part of the deal, Hyundai and Aptiv, formerly Delphi Automotive, will each have 50%
ownership in the joint venture.
Hyundai Motor Group, comprising Kia, Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Mobis, will contribute $1.6 billion in cash into the venture while Aptiv will contribute its
autonomous driving technology, intellectual property and 700 employees focused on the development of scalable autonomous driving solutions.
The goal is to begin testing fully driverless
systems next year and have a production-ready autonomous driving platform available for robotaxis, fleet operators and auto manufacturers by 2022.
The joint venture aims to advance the
development and commercialization of so-called Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous technologies. Level 4 would allow a driver to override a system and Level 5 would be fully autonomous driving in all
circumstances.
"The new joint venture marks the start of a journey toward our common goal of commercializing autonomous driving," stated Euisun Chung, executive vice chairman, Hyundai Motor Group.