Hyundai Motor, one of South Korea's top carmakers and its affiliate Kia, said they had inked an agreement with Baidu- China's tech giant to develop technologies for connected cars. Under the memorandum of understanding signed in Beijing last week, the two South Korean carmakers and Baidu joined hands in a wide array of areas, including connectivity and self-driving technologies.
Both- Hyundai and Kia will also utilise Baidu's smart cloud computing technology to address Beijing's enhancing data regulations, reports Yonhap news agency.
The South Korean companies will seek to find new business models harnessing artificial intelligence technologies with the Chinese counterpart as well, they added.
"Through the strategic collaboration with Baidu, we will make efforts to establish the ecosystem for connected cars in the Chinese market," Hyundai and Kia said in a press release.
The agreement came amid the growing market for connected cars in China.
The annual sales of connected cars in China are anticipated to reach 17 million units this year, marking a sharp rise from 7.2 million units tallied in 2019, Hyundai said, citing Chinese data.
Hyundai and Kia have been working closely with Baidu since 2014, including the development of voice recognition technology.
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Recently, the chief of Hyundai Motor Group visited India and shared a strategic vision to enhance its operations in the country and position it as a main export centre for the South Korean automotive giant. He further emphasized that Hyundai Motor Group has disclosed new investment initiatives in India totalling around 5 trillion won (equivalent to USD 3.75 billion) over the past year. This move underscores the group's commitment to tapping into one of the world's most rapidly expanding automotive markets.
Also, 4 major automakers initiated recalling over 11,000 vehicles. The move was taken because of various faulty components, which were announced by the transport ministry. Companies like Mercedes-Benz Korea, Stellantis Korea, Hyundai Motor and Man Truck & Bus Korea were involved in this voluntary recall, which encompassed a total of 23 different models.
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Inputs from IANS
