Hyundai Motor, Kia partner with 17 firms to boost software development

The participants pose for a photo after a model-based development consortium agreement is signed. [Photo provided by Hyundai Motor Group]

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp., two of South Korea’s leading automakers, said on Friday they agreed to build a software development consortium with 17 other companies to enhance their competitiveness in developing control software for autonomous vehicles.

Under the agreement, the participating companies will form a model-based development consortium to improve investment efficiency in building software and virtual development environments. The consortium aims to speed up the establishment of a software-centric development system by standardizing and sharing software development solutions.

The development of an advanced software-defined vehicle requires software that integrates and controls the various electronics inside a vehicle based on a function-centric architecture. In the past, controller software was developed and applied to each piece of hardware to tackle errors, but the model-based development model can reduce development time and increase quality through virtual simulation.

The consortium includes Hyundai Motor and Kia, along with other Hyundai Motor Group subsidiaries, such as Hyundai Mobis Co. and Hyundai Wia, as well as industry-leading companies at each field such as Robert Bosch GmbH, Vitesco Technologies Group AG, HL Mando Corp. and dSPACE.

The consortium is divided into a development group that develops control units and software products and a technology group that supports specialized technologies. The two groups will work together to support each other.

Hyundai Motor and Kia will support technology exchanges and collaborations among consortium members and promote the use of shared standardized environments to create an open ecosystem for SDVs.

“To lead the era of software-defined vehicles, it is essential to respond to the market quickly based on software technology,” said Kim Yong-hwa, vice president of Hyundai Motor Group’s R&D headquarters Vehicle Control Development Center. “By strengthening collaboration with excellent partners and growing together through mutual technology exchange, we will be able to present more advanced SDVs to our customers.”