Hyundai Motor\, Tencent tie up to develop self-driving cars software

Hyundai Motor, Tencent tie up to develop self-driving cars software

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a business forum held in Seoul on Thursday by the South Korean government and China's Guangdong province

Reuters 

South Korean automaker Motor Co and Chinese technology firm Holdings have signed a preliminary deal to develop software for driverless vehicles, South Korea’s reported on Saturday.

Both plan to conduct joint research and development on safety and security systems for self-driving cars, which seeks to roll out commercially by 2030, the report, which cited unnamed industry sources, said.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of a business forum held in Seoul on Thursday by the South Korean government and China’s Guangdong province, it said.

and did not offer any immediate comments on the report.

The two are also exploring ways to utilize Tencent’s popular WeChat messaging app in developing China-targeted car models, the newspaper said.

Hyundai, the world’s 5th largest automaker together with affiliate Kia Motors, has been fostering partnerships with self-driving tech and social media firms as it aims to introduce highly automated vehicles by 2020 and fully autonomous vehicles by 2030.

Hyundai Mobis, another affiliate of the car maker, clinched an agreement last month with Russia’s largest internet search engine Yandex to jointly develop control systems for driverless vehicles.

Shenzhen-based and Hong Kong-listed has also ventured into self-driving tech and had advertised to recruit engineers in Silicon Valley last year.

First Published: Sat, April 06 2019. 20:11 IST