Hyundai Motor Company and Aurora have announced a strategic partnership to bring self-driving Hyundai vehicles to market by 2021. Hyundai said in a statement that their partnership would incorporate Aurora's self-driving technology into Hyundai vehicles starting with models custom-developed and launched in test programs and pilot cities. Over the longer term, Hyundai and Aurora will work to commercialize self-driving vehicles worldwide.
In addition, Volkswagen Group and Aurora have announced a strategic partnership to bring self-driving electric vehicles to cities as mobility-as-a-service ("MaaS") fleets.
"We know the future of transportation is autonomous, and autonomous driving technology needs to be proven in the real world to accelerate deployment in a safe and scalable manner," said Dr. Woong Chul Yang, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor. "Combining our advanced vehicle technology that embeds the latest safety features with Aurora's leading suite of Level 4 autonomous technology will advance this revolution in mobility with Hyundai in a leadership position."
"Aurora is excited to partner with Hyundai Motor to make the social benefits of self-driving available globally," said Dr. Chris Urmson, the chief executive officer of Aurora. "This partnership combines Hyundai's strengths in vehicle design, safety, and manufacturing with Aurora's expertise in self-driving technologies to make a positive difference in the world."
Volkswagen Group's chief digital officer, Johann Jungwirth, said, "Our vision is 'Mobility for all, at the push of a button.' This means that we want to offer mobility for all people around the world. Mobility also for children, elderly, sick and visually impaired people, really for all. 'At the push of a button' stands for simplicity and the easiness of use. In the future people can of course use our mobility app or digital virtual assistant to hail a self-driving electric vehicle to drive them conveniently door-to-door, or use our Volkswagen OneButton which has GPS, connectivity and a compass, as a small beautiful key fob with maximum convenience. Working with Aurora, leading self-driving system company, will give us a giant leap forward in our mission to become the world's leading provider of sustainable mobility, with self-driving vehicles. Our aim is to create new Mobility-as-a-Service ("MaaS") solutions which customers will be really passionate about because they have been tailored to the human with highest safety standards, best-in-class user experience and digital intelligence. For me this is the reinvention of mobility and the automobile."
Mr. Urmson added, "Our priority at Aurora is to make self-driving cars a reality quickly, broadly and safely, and we know we will get there faster by partnering with innovative automakers like the Volkswagen Group. This partnership establishes a deep collaboration using Aurora's self-driving technology, and together we will bring self-driving vehicles to market at scale."
Based in Palo Alto, California, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Aurora designs and builds self-driving technology, partnering with automakers to integrate, pilot, and deploy advanced self-driving platforms into vehicles.