"Korea Tire Ventures into Autonomous Driving Development with Startup Acquisition"

Specialized Driving Data Company 'Three Seconds'
Acquisition in Autonomous Driving Technology Sector

On the 7th, Hankook & Company Group (formerly Hankook Tire Group) announced that its business holding company, Hankook & Company, has acquired the autonomous driving technology division of the driving data specialist startup ‘3Secondz’.

3Secondz was founded in 2016 by CEO Kim Jae-woo, a graduate of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). It is a startup developing personalized autonomous driving technology based on advanced driving data. It possesses autonomous driving-specialized control solutions such as the real-time driving data collection device ‘XYRO’ and the monitoring and driving data analysis software ‘TeamSolution’.

Hankook & Company Group and 3Secondz have maintained a partnership since 2020. They introduced 3Secondz’s real-time monitoring system for test vehicles and unmanned testing solutions at Hankook Tire & Technology’s (hereafter Hankook Tire) Asia’s largest tire test track, ‘Hankook Technoring,’ thereby automating driving tests with autonomous driving.

[Photo by Hankook Tire & Technology]

In June last year, 3Secondz deployed an autonomous driving test vehicle to the off-road test driving section of Hankook Technoring called the ‘Cut-chip road’ to verify tire grip and durability. This marked the world’s first commercialization of autonomous driving technology applicable to harsh environment driving tests.

According to the company, this technology acquisition allows the application of autonomous driving technology to driving tests in the mobility sector, enabling the consistent collection of more driving data without a driver.

After the acquisition is finalized, the personnel responsible for autonomous driving technology development at 3Secondz will be integrated into Hankook & Company to continue mobility technology development projects.

Kim Sung-jin, Head of Digital Strategy at Hankook & Company, said, “We are pleased that this acquisition enables Hankook & Company to lead AI-related technologies in the mobility sector,” adding, “We expect to generate strong synergies across various businesses in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.