Self-driving Hyundais, Kias may arrive sooner than expected

BOTH Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors are accelerating their initiatives related to autonomous vehicle technologies through a new investment on Aurora, a firm developing self-driving systems for cars.

The Seoul-based carmakers bared this in a statement, but did not disclose the amount of the investment.

Hyundai, Kia and Aurora have been collaborating on self-driving technologies since last year through Hyundai’s flagship fuel cell vehicle, the NEXO.

The new investment is meant to expand research on a wide range of models and to build a platform for Hyundai’s and Kia’s autonomous vehicles.

“Aurora is the leading innovator of self-driving technology and we look forward to building a stronger collaborative partnership with them,” said Youngcho Chi, president and chief innovation officer at Hyundai Motor Group.

The executive noted the partnership will help create self-driving vehicles safe for users.

Aurora’s self-driving system, called Aurora Driver, relies on lidar, radar and cameras. Software modules enable these to “make sense of the world and plan a safe path through it,” Hyundai and Kiasaid. The carmakers added their Aurora Driver-equipped models can better “monitor, react and adapt to different surroundings.”

Hyundai’s and Kia’s partnership with Aurora is part of their ongoing efforts to lead in autonomous driving systems.