Hyundai speeds development of robot taxis to catch Google, GM

[SEOUL] In the future of transportation, what would you get if you mixed the business models of Tesla, Google and Samsung Electronics with the budget of the world's fifth-biggest automaker?

Chi Young Cho is about to find out.

Hired from Samsung, Mr Chi has assembled a team of 200 researchers at Hyundai Motor, the 50-year-old South Korean carmaker that fought its way to the top echelon of the auto world and is now struggling to stem flagging sales in some of its biggest markets. His job is to catapult Hyundai into the forefront of technologies that are upending transportation.

Late to the game, Hyundai is developing vehicles and software systems for a planned driverless taxi service to compete with both its traditional rivals like Nissan Motor and General Motors, and tech companies such as Waymo, the unit of Google's parent Alphabet, which has vowed to offer fully autonomous cars for public use soon.

"The most urgent task for us is the mobility service," said Mr Chi, 58, chief innovation officer and executive vice president in charge of Hyundai's Strategy & Technology Division, in an interview at his office in Seoul. "We're a bit late, but the opportunity has not been completely shut down." He has the backing of one of the world's biggest industrial enterprises.

Hyundai has said it will step up spending on research and development and expand cooperation. It opened a data centre in Guizhou province in China and a technology development centre in Silicon Valley in 2017 and plans to set up units to invest in startups in Israel and Berlin this year.

New Strategy

Mr Chi's division will coordinate their activities, creating a blueprint to integrate everything from artificial intelligence (AI) to robotics to energy storage. In a break from its traditional go-it-alone strategy, the automaker has stitched up partnerships with Cisco Systems and Baidu for connected cars, and teamed up with SK Telecom and Hanwha Asset Management to set up a US$45 million fund to invest in AI, smart mobility and fintech.

As the industry shifts away from conventional gasoline-powered vehicles with drivers, software and vehicle-related applications are becoming key to the future for automakers.

McKinsey & Co estimates revenue from mobile and data-driven services in transportation will jump to US$1.5 trillion by 2030, fuelled by shared mobility and data connectivity services.

ICT Partnerships

While Mr Chi declined to say when the robot taxis will be ready, Koh Tae Bong, a senior analyst at Hi Investment & Securities Co said Hyundai may not be able to commercialise a self-driving shared mobility service before 2021.

"In order to start a robotaxi business overseas, it is essential for them to have strategic partnerships with ICT companies such as telecommunications, map and big data firms, and have testing periods before rolling self-driving taxis on the road," Mr Koh said.

To hasten its efforts, Hyundai may buy companies around the US$50 million to US$100 million scale that could bring in more expertise, said Mr Chi, who previously led Samsung's strategic planning team. Still, he ruled out an acquisition spree.

"M&A looks sexy on the surface and may boost a firm's value in the short term, but we are not at that stage," Mr Chi said, explaining Hyundai still needs to learn better integration. Hyundai may buy one or two small companies this year, and should they work out well, it may try bigger-sized deals in 2019, he said.

Catching Up

Playing catch-up will be hard. GM expects to have a fleet of its self-driving cars ready for a ride-share service in 2019, while Nissan has said it will test an autonomous ride-hailing service on public roads in Japan as early as March. Waymo, which has racked up the most autonomous test miles on roads, has said it is "really close" to putting customers in its vehicles.

Meanwhile, Hyundai has been battling declining sales in the US, where it lacks enough SUV models to benefit from a boom. In China, its biggest market, political tensions with South Korea sparked a consumer backlash, causing a plunge in sales last year. Hyundai is also under growing pressure from the South Korean government to improve corporate governance as part of a drive to reform the nation's big family-owned conglomerates.

All of which puts Mr Chi and his team under pressure to succeed quickly.

"Speed is crucial in every aspect," said Mr Chi. "I am asking my colleagues to report a task in a day which used to be done in a week."

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