Hyundai Motor and Kia Autonomous Vehicles to Operate Throughout Gwangju

Selected for Two Key Roles in the Ministry of Land’s "Autonomous Driving Demonstration City Initiative"

Chosen for Both Sectors of the "K-Autonomous Driving Cooperative Model"

Large-Scale Demonstration Targeting All of Gwangju Metropolitan C

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia's autonomous vehicles will be operating throughout Korea's first autonomous driving demonstration city.

On March 9, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia announced that they had been selected as the vehicle manufacturer and transportation platform company, respectively, for the "K-Autonomous Driving Collaboration Model," which is being promoted as part of the "Autonomous Driving Demonstration City Project" led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Ioniq 5 Robotaxi. Hyundai Motor Company

The "Autonomous Driving Demonstration City Project" is the first initiative in Korea to demonstrate autonomous driving technologies at the city level, with the entire city of Gwangju as its target area. By conducting large-scale demonstrations, the project aims to secure high-quality real-world driving data, establish standards for autonomous vehicle technology development, and simultaneously improve related regulations and systems.

In this demonstration project, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have been selected as the companies responsible for the manufacturing of vehicles dedicated to autonomous driving development and the transportation platform sector, respectively. Their capabilities in manufacturing customized autonomous vehicles and their AI-based software technologies have been recognized.

Accordingly, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia will supply dedicated vehicles suitable for the development of autonomous driving technologies by the technology providers that will be selected in the future. They will also operate transportation brokerage and control platforms to verify the commercialization of autonomous driving services, supporting the expansion of the "K-Autonomous Driving Collaboration Model" and contributing to Korea's emergence as a global leader in autonomous driving.

To manufacture vehicles for autonomous driving development, it is necessary not only to supply the vehicles themselves, but also to implement various functions required for the development and verification of autonomous driving technologies, such as installing additional sensors according to the autonomous driving approach, integrating vehicle control systems, and enabling over-the-air (OTA) updates.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have already demonstrated their ability to manufacture dedicated vehicles for each autonomous driving technology by providing Ioniq 5-based autonomous vehicles to the Motional joint venture and Waymo Robotaxi using a foundry approach.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia plan to support autonomous driving technology companies by producing dedicated vehicles for technology implementation, while also sharing diverse vehicle and operational data generated during the demonstration process with these companies to help advance their technologies.

In addition, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia will deploy a call and dispatch platform tailored to autonomous driving services, based on the "Shucle Platform," which integrates various urban transportation modes into a single service, as part of this demonstration project.

The Shucle Platform, developed by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia as a step toward the autonomous driving era, offers core functions such as generating optimal routes using AI and real-time traffic information, facilitating passenger pick-up and drop-off, and ensuring operational safety through comprehensive vehicle monitoring.

Furthermore, since 2019, the platform has proven its effectiveness by providing vehicle call and dispatch services in 33 local governments and more than 82 service areas, thereby securing stable service operation capabilities.

Through this demonstration project, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia intend to utilize the Shucle Platform to complete an integrated autonomous driving service model that seamlessly connects vehicles, platforms, and users, thereby leading the creation of new mobility experiences and ecosystems.

Sooyoung Kim, Executive Vice President of the Mobility Business Division at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, stated, "This demonstration project is an important opportunity to verify Hyundai Motor Company and Kia's integrated autonomous driving capabilities in real urban environments. We will focus our efforts on advancing our technologies so that vehicles, autonomous driving technologies, and platforms can work together seamlessly, and so that the results of this demonstration can lead to standards that can be widely adopted."

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