Connecting Car to Life
Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors have decided to secure technology that allows consumers to remotely control home appliances at home on the road by combining the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Also, they will make cars realize all smartphone functions. It means the two companies are planning to blur the line between cars and information technology devices.
Hyundai Motor presented its roadmap for connected car development on Apr. 5. The group unveiled its “Hyper-connected and Intelligent Car’” development concept and strategy. Along with the roadmap, Hyundai Motor Group plans to embark on a new era of connecting the ‘Car to Life’, as cars are increasingly at the center of our lifestyles by changing the existing paradigms of cars.
An official in the industry said, “Tesla said the year 2017 will be the first year of electric vehicles and Google and Apple have the lead in the driverless car market. In addition, Samsung Electronics has entered the car market. So, Hyundai Motor, which doesn’t have any representative products, will feel a lot of pressure.”
Hyundai-Kia Motors has made the short, medium and long term R&D plans for the roadmap in order to take a lead in the heated competition for the development of a connected car and bring new values for customers and society. In the longer term, its R&D focus will be put on areas such as smart remote maintenance services, autonomous driving, smart traffic, and a connected mobility hub.
A smart remote maintenance service is a technology that enables automakers to access cars via the Internet to diagnose and fix problems in real time. A fully autonomous driving system allows all cars to prevent collision with its sensors and exchange information with each other on various items such as destination and direction. A smart traffic service will reduce congestion, speed up journeys and minimize energy loss by suggesting the best route to each car. Lastly, the connected Mobility Hub will feature a mobile hub with strong computing power to make daily life and interaction with the car and its surroundings smarter.
In the short- to mid-term, Hyundai said it will concentrate on technologies related to smartphone connectivity and smart home services, while embedding all smartphone functions in cars and securing a technology that controls home appliances at home on the road.
An official from Hyundai Motor said, “The group will focus its R&D capability on four core technologies, including car networks, cloud systems, bid data and security. Also, we will seek more collaboration with leading global information technology and networking companies to develop its ‘hyper-connected and intelligent car’ concept.”