Hyundai Motor, Kia vow to release Level 3 autonomous driving technology within the year

Industry

Published: 03 Jan. 2023, 19:00

Hyundai Motor, Kia vow to release Level 3 autonomous driving technology within the year

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung delivers a speech during a New Year's event Tuesday at the company's research center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to release vehicles with Level 3 autonomous driving technology this year, according to a statement by Hyundai Motor in a New Year’s message Tuesday, also addressing the further electrification of cars.

The new G90, the latest Genesis sedan, and Kia’s EV9 will come with a feature called highway driving pilot, allowing for Level 3 self-driving. If all goes as planned, this will be Korea’s first car with the advanced feature.

The Level 3 cars will be able to steer and accelerate on their own but requires a driver monitoring. Level 5 is the highest level of autonomy and Level 1 the lowest.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung poses with the carmaker's employees during a Tuesday event. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

In his meeting with employees for the new year, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said the company will gain a bigger share in the global EV market and generate a new growth driver in autonomous driving, future mobility and robotics in 2023.

"The company will make an aggressive investment to hire proven talents in new-growth business sectors and develop new technologies to become the first mover that leads the future mobility market," he said in a statement.

Last year, Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 won the 2022 World Car of the Year and Kia's EV6 was named the 2022 European Car of the Year. It marked the beginning of the group's "successful" shift to electrification, he said.

With the solid sales of the main EV models, the Korean car maker became the third-largest car manufacturer last year.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Kia EV6 are equipped with the Korean automotive group's EV-dedicated platform called E-GMP.

As for business environments, the executive chair said the lingering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising interest rates and prices, volatile exchange rates and geopolitical risks such as the Russia-Ukraine war remain major worries for carmakers.

Hyundai Motor Group is set to release its business targets for 2023 and last year's annual sales results Tuesday afternoon.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]