Hyundai Motor Group on the 4th accepted the resignation of Song Chang-hyun, head of the Advanced Vehicle Platform (AVP) division and president. Because Song led the group's software-defined vehicle (SDV) development, some expect changes in the group's future mobility research and development (R&D) organization or its SDV strategy.
Hyundai Motor Group said, "President Song recently expressed his intention to voluntarily step down for personal reasons, and the company respected the decision and accepted the resignation." It added, "The projects overseen by Song have been run systematically by leaders in each division, including the AVP division and 42dot, and they will continue in the same way going forward."
Hyundai Motor Group, which is reviewing the appointment of Song's successor, plans to prioritize organizational stability and operations and push ahead with existing key projects.
Earlier, on the 3rd, Song sent a message to 42dot employees saying, "After meeting with Chairman Chung Eui-sun, I am stepping down as head of Hyundai Motor Group's AVP division and as CEO of 42dot," and added, "While concurrently leading AVP through the massive transition to SDV, every time we hit countless invisible walls, what kept me going was your passion at 42dot."
He added, "We have been preparing for SDV, where global automakers spent tens of trillions of won and failed, and for a future of automobiles in which only Autonomous Driving technology remains," and said, "In a massive hardware-centric industry, the challenge that once looked reckless—to implant a software DNA and build not just a car but an artificial intelligence (AI) device—was 'really' not easy and far from smooth."
After serving as Naver's first chief technology officer (CTO) in 2015, Song left Naver in Jan. 2019 and founded 42dot. In 2022, Hyundai Motor Group acquired the company for 420 billion won to transition to an SDV regime. 42dot has focused on developing autonomous driving software and mobility platforms for transportation as a service (TaaS). It also operates Akit, a camera- and radar-based autonomous driving solution, and Tap!, an autonomous driving transport platform.
As Korea's autonomous driving market heats up with the launch of Tesla's supervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) service and General Motors (GM)'s Super Cruise, Song's offer to resign has prompted various interpretations. Some see it as taking responsibility for Hyundai Motor Group's lack of clear results in autonomous driving. Initially, 42dot planned to apply "Level 2+" autonomous driving technology to mass-production vehicles and launch SDVs starting in 2028.
Hyundai Motor Group plans to announce executive appointments, including group presidents, as early as today.