November 22, 2024

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[ET NEWS] Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors will adopt connected car functions, such as remote control and regular vehicle checkup, for their new vehicles launched from next year, according to a ranking company executive on Dec. 26.

Thus far, the functions, called Blue Link for Hyundai and UVO for Kia, have been offered for high trim models only. 

The executive said Blue Link will be offered as a basic option for all new cars starting with the upcoming Veloster compact that is set to be launched in January.

“More advanced features will be adopted in phases, including an artificial intelligence assistant function from 2019,” the company executive told ET News on condition of anonymity. “All Hyundai and Kia vehicles will be connected by 2025.”

Hyundai and Kia are putting considerable resources into developing connected car solutions.

The Korean auto giant has teamed up with Cisco, the world’s largest network equipment and solution maker, for its own hardware platform for high-speed connectivity, and is working on its own connected car operating system.

Hyundai debuted its first voice recognition system, called Kakao I that was co-developed by Kakao, for the Genesis G70 sedan this year. The system, which helps search for destinations and neighboring restaurants, tourist spots and gas stations, is also offered for the 2018 Maxcruze SUV.

Hyundai and Kia also offer the English version of the AI system for the Genesis G80 and G90 running on Amazon’s Alexa. The Chinese version features Baidu’s Duer OS Auto AI service.

By Ryu Jong-eun (rje312@etnews.com) (jylee@heraldcorp.com)
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