Hyundai Motor delays Stage 3 autonomous driving launch

[Graphics by Song Ji-yoon]

Hyundai Motor Group has postponed the commercialization of its Stage 3 autonomous driving technology until 2025 to perfect the technology and await an ease in South Korean regulations.

According to industry sources on Monday, the automaker group is currently upgrading its Stage 2 autonomous driving technology. The goal is to enhance Stage 2 before rolling out Stage 3 and applying it to a wider range of vehicles from Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp.

The auto group previously canceled plans to equip Kia‘s large electric sport utility vehicle with the highway driving pilot (HDP) function, Stage 3 autonomous technology, in 2023. The HDP technology, when fully implemented, will allow cars to travel up to 80 kilometers per hour on highways without driver intervention while maintaining a safe distance from the vehicle ahead. “We will continue to evaluate the technology until we are fully confident,” Kia President Song Ho-sung said in October of that year.

In line with the company’s latest decision, the Ioniq 9, which is set to be released later in 2024, will not feature Stage 3 autonomous driving technology.