Hyundai Motor Group accelerates self-driving technology development

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it will make strategic investment in U.S. self-driving car startup Aurora Innovation. Following a mutual cooperation agreement between the two companies last year, the investment is expected to accelerate the development of more advanced autonomous driving technology.

The South Korean automotive group said that it will investment in Aurora and strengthen their cooperation in developing self-driving technology through Aurora’s proprietary system. The two companies did not specify the value of the investment, however.

Aurora was co-founded in 2017 by Chris Urmson, a former chief technology officer of Google’s self-driving car team, and Sterling Anderson, former head of Tesla Autopilot. Chung Eui-sun, chief vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, has been leading the collaboration with Aurora, which has drawn global attention since its founding.

It is the latest trend that auto manufacturers form an alliance with self-driving technology companies and venture capitalists to develop autonomous driving technology. Aurora, which has been cooperating with Hyundai and Chinese automaker Byton, made headlines in February, when it secured 530-million-dollar investment from Amazon and Sequoia Capital.


Hyoun-Soo Kim kimhs@donga.com