Hyundai accelerates into the self-driving fast lane
South Korean car giant announces multi-billion autonomous vehicle investment
South Korea's largest car company, Hyundai, is investing 41 trillion won ($35bn £27.5bn) into autonomous driving and electric cars by 2025. The company’s ambitious plans rival those of Volkswagen,which plan to spend €30bn (£25.8bn) over the next five years making electric or hybrid versions of all its vehicles.
Hyundai has also announced a joint $4bn autonomous driving venture with Dublin auto-tech group Aptiv.
South Korea’s government has announced an estimated $2bn of financial backing for work on autonomous vehicle technology, with President Moon Jae-in suggesting that self-driving cars would account for half of the new cars on the country’s roads by 2030. The government is currently preparing a legal and regulatory framework for autonomous cars by 2024.
According to a recent report by Intel, self-driving cars are a smart investment. The “passenger economy” will reach $800 billion by 2035 and could reach as much as $7 trillion by 2050.
