 |
Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, August 19 – Hyundai Motor Group announced that it has made an additional investment of KRW 629.1 billion in its U.S.-based autonomous driving joint venture Motional, reinforcing its commitment to advancing self-driving technology and strengthening competitiveness in the fast-growing robotaxi market.
The latest capital increase was approved by Hyundai Motor and Kia at their respective board meetings in May. With this investment, Hyundai Motor Group’s stake in Motional has risen from 85% to 86.61%.
This marks Hyundai Motor Group’s first large-scale investment in Motional in a year, following its acquisition of an 11% stake from Aptiv last May and participation in a rights offering, which raised its holding to 85%. In total, the Group has invested nearly KRW 5 trillion in Motional since the joint venture was established in 2020 with Aptiv, each party initially contributing USD 2 billion.
Despite celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, Motional’s business progress has faced challenges. The company suspended its pilot robotaxi services in Las Vegas and Santa Monica last year, while the commercial launch of its robotaxi service has been postponed from 2023 to 2024. In addition, Motional’s ranking in Guidehouse Insights’ 2024 Autonomous Driving Technology Leaderboard fell to 15th among 20 global companies, down from 5th the previous year.
Nevertheless, Hyundai Motor Group continues to back Motional as part of its long-term strategy to transition into a software-defined vehicle (SDV) company. Through sustained investment, the Group aims to accelerate the validation of autonomous driving technologies and advance core algorithms that will underpin next-generation mobility solutions.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
