Hyundai Motor Group has decided to postpone the release of vehicles equipped with its proprietary Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) until the end of 2029, which is two years later than the original schedule. During this transition period, the company plans to strengthen cooperation with the American company Nvidia to accelerate the implementation of this technology.
A representative of the South Korean company stated that Hyundai and Nvidia will jointly develop and implement Level 2+ and Level 2++ driver assistance systems in 2028. This delay reflects Hyundai's difficulties in independently creating software for autonomous driving; initially, the company planned to introduce this technology by the end of 2027.
The change in strategy has raised concerns about Hyundai's increasing dependence on Nvidia and the company's lag behind Tesla and Chinese competitors in commercializing autonomous driving technologies.
Hyundai Motor Group President Park Min-woo stated at a press briefing that the partnership with Nvidia does not imply complete trust in their solutions. According to Park, Hyundai will develop technologies jointly with Nvidia and use data generated by the system to train and improve its own Atria software platform.
Park, who previously worked at Nvidia and joined Hyundai in January, is leading the efforts to deepen interaction between the two corporations. His approach differs from that of his predecessor, Sohn Chan-hyun, who focused on independent software development before leaving the company in December.
Hyundai vehicles based on Nvidia's Hyperion 10 platform will initially not be equipped with expensive LiDAR systems. Instead, the company intends to use cameras, ultrasonic sensors, and radar. Meanwhile, Hyundai is considering the application of LiDAR in Level 3 automated driving systems, which allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel under certain conditions. The commercialization timeline for Level 3 systems has not yet been determined.
Park emphasized that Hyundai considers sensor redundancy a necessary measure for safety, as it allows other sensors to maintain safe system operation in case of failure of one. Hyundai and its affiliate Kia, which together rank third globally among automakers with annual sales exceeding 7 million vehicles, plan to leverage the scale of their global fleet to collect data and train autonomous driving technologies.
Hyundai forecasts that by 2033, it will surpass competitors in the volume of collected driving data. Hyundai's collaboration with Nvidia also covers autonomous driving technologies, AI-based data centers, and humanoid robots developed by Boston Dynamics, which belongs to Hyundai. Level 2+ systems typically provide advanced driver assistance features on highways, while Level 2++ systems are designed for more complex urban driving scenarios; however, both technologies require constant driver monitoring.
