Hyundai Mobis lab will focus on self-driving

Hyundai Mobis, Korea’s top auto parts supplier, will turn its 10-year-old research center in India into a specialized lab dedicated to developing core software for new car technology like autonomous driving and advanced driver assistance systems.

Up till now, the Hyderabad-based center has been focusing on software quality verification and developing applied software for localized auto parts. Major accomplishments include developing and verifying advanced driver assistance software like smart cruise control, lane-keeping assist and smart parking assist system. The center also came up with a receiver capable of detecting digital radio broadcasts from all over India, a first in the country.

The Korean company’s Indian lab will now focus on ramping up its software design capabilities and collaborate closely with its R&D hub in Yongin, Gyeonggi, to develop the software necessary for fully self-driving cars. While the center in Yongin will confirm basic requests and specs for necessary software and design, the Indian center will verify the software’s functionality and develop applied software optimized for commercial use, the company said.

“By securing our own technology to design and develop new software, we will focus on making strategic auto parts catered to local conditions while also coming up with software that can bring forward the era of unmanned cars,” said Cho Gyu-ryang, director of the company’s technical center in India.

Hyundai Mobis, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor, currently has four overseas centers, in China, Germany, India and United States. The lab in India has 450 researchers, up from five when it was first established in 2007.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]