Ist Hyundai ein "hidden champion" beim Autonomen Fahren?
Hyundai is shrewdly enlisting outside help. It recently announced a $1.6 billion investment – the group’s biggest one overseas – into a joint venture with Aptiv, a parts supplier and pioneer in self-driving cars. Closer to home, there is potential to cooperate with local peers: only Japan boasts more driverless tech patents per capita, according to KPMG. One possibility might be Samsung, which is also developing next-generation wireless communications and software.
National champion status should help Hyundai, too. President Moon Jae-in’s government has vowed to provide systems and infrastructure to support completely driverless cars by 2024. It is offering an entire city for test drives, and the country’s mobile network is among the most robust in the world: 4G coverage reaches 96% of the population.
What’s more, Hyundai has time on its side. Driverless technology is new enough that no one can claim a decisive lead. There’s room yet for a dark horse.
