December 01, 2024

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Rendering of Hyundai Motor Company's Ioniq 5 equipped with Waymo's autonomous driving technology (Hyundai Motor Group)

Hyundai Motor announced Friday that it has entered a multi-year, strategic partnership with Google’s autonomous driving technology subsidiary Waymo as the Korean automaker looks to bolster its newly established autonomous vehicle foundry business.

According to the announcement, the two sides will work together to integrate Waymo’s sixth-generation fully autonomous technology into Hyundai’s all-electric sports utility vehicle Ioniq 5.

The Ioniq 5s headed for the Waymo fleet will be rolled out at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia, the automaker’s first dedicated EV mass production plant, which is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Hyundai and Waymo share a vision to improve the safety, efficiency and convenience of how people move,” said Jose Munoz, global chief operating officer of Hyundai Motor Company.

“Waymo’s transformational technology is improving road safety where they operate, and the Ioniq 5 is the ideal vehicle to scale this further. The team at our new manufacturing facility is ready to allocate a significant number of vehicles for the Waymo One fleet as it continues to expand,” he said.

Munoz added that the two companies are actively exploring additional opportunities for collaboration.

The two sides said they plan to produce Ioniq 5s equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology in significant volume over multiple years to back up Waymo’s growing scale without mentioning specific figures. The initial on-road testing of Ioniq 5s featuring Waymo’s technology will begin by late 2025 and the EV will be available to Waymo customers in the following years.

“We recently announced the launch of Hyundai Motor Company’s autonomous vehicle foundry business to provide global autonomous driving companies with vehicles capable of implementing (Society of Automotive Engineers) Level 4 or higher autonomous driving technology,” said Song Chang-hyeon, president and head of Hyundai Motor Group’s Advanced Vehicle Platform Division.

“There is no better partner for our first agreement in this initiative than industry leader Waymo.”

Waymo operates about 700 driverless taxis in the United States as the country’s only commercial company in the robotaxi sector.

“We are thrilled to partner with Hyundai as we further our mission to be the world’s most trusted driver,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo.

“Hyundai’s focus on sustainability and strong electric vehicle road map makes them a great partner for us as we bring our fully autonomous service to more riders in more places.”

Hyundai Motor Company's all-electric sports utility vehicle Ioniq 5 drives on road without a driver in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Hyundai Motor Group)

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)