Competition for Smart Car
Hyundai Motor Company recently set up a new business unit to be in charge of the development of intelligent vehicles. The new unit, expanded from the existing one related to automotive IT service, is to respond to the penetration of the smart car market by Samsung Electronics, which organized a new team for automotive electronic component manufacturing late last year.
On April 5, the new business unit of Hyundai Motor Company unveiled a master plan for the development of hyper-connected and intelligent cars. The idea of the project is to incorporate a variety of smartphone features into vehicles and realize complete self-driving in the near future.
“Since the Samsung Group’s business reorganization last year, many in the Hyundai Motor Group have said that their rivals are not automakers such as Mercedes Benz and Ford any longer but IT firms like Google and Apple,” said an industry insider, adding, “It is in this context that Hyundai set up the new business unit at this time.”
In the meantime, the Samsung Group is currently focusing on the development of in-vehicle infotainment systems instead of a full-scale development of smart cars. “We have examined the feasibility of self-driving vehicle development for no less than 10 years,” a high-ranking executive at Samsung mentioned, continuing, “A large-scale investment will be made once specific goals and strategies are set.”