Hyundai Motor and Kia will begin verifying Autonomous Driving capabilities in Gwangju Metropolitan City in the second half of this year.
Hyundai Motor and Kia said on the 13th that they signed a business agreement at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju Metropolitan City with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Gwangju Metropolitan City, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS), Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Autonomous A2Z, and RideFlux to promote a project to create an Autonomous Driving demonstration city. Minister Kim Yun-duk and Hyundai Motor and Kia AVP Division Head Park Min-woo (president) attended the signing ceremony.
The purpose of this agreement is to push forward a demonstration project in Gwangju Metropolitan City, which offers various road conditions, to further advance Autonomous Driving technology accumulated by the private sector. In the second half of this year, the demonstration will be conducted in parts of Gwangsan-gu, Buk-gu, and Seo-gu, and next year the scope will expand to the remaining areas of Seo-gu and to Nam-gu and Dong-gu, covering all five basic districts of Gwangju Metropolitan City.
First, Hyundai Motor and Kia will produce about 200 Autonomous Driving vehicles based on existing mass-production models and roll them out as demonstration vehicles. Each vehicle will be equipped by default with eight cameras for Autonomous Driving and one radar. They will be designed to handle a range of situations. The companies will also consider the possibility of adding more sensors during the Autonomous Driving demonstration process.
In addition, Hyundai Motor and Kia will operate an Autonomous Driving service platform using the AI-based mobility platform "Shucle." By directly operating Gwangju's Autonomous Driving vehicle service, they will handle customer ride-hailing and overall control of vehicles in operation. A Hyundai Motor and Kia official said, "We plan to implement intelligent dispatching that takes into account the characteristics of Autonomous Driving technology and real-time traffic conditions by leveraging the AI route-optimization technology we have built."
Finally, Hyundai Motor and Kia will participate in verifying Autonomous Driving technology by deploying their in-house solution, Atria AI. Atria AI is characterized by an E2E (End to End) approach that links the entire process of perception, decision-making, and control into a single AI model. By comprehensively learning real-world driving data, it can respond to more complex traffic situations than traditional rule-based methods that predefine rules and scenarios.
In the public sector, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will oversee the project and provide administrative support such as advancing Autonomous Driving policies and establishing an institutional foundation, while Gwangju Metropolitan City will support demonstration infrastructure such as corporate on-site space, depots, and charging facilities. The Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS) will provide overall administrative support for efficient project operation and review the results of technology verification.
Autonomous Driving startups such as Autonomous A2Z and RideFlux will carry out technology verification tasks using Hyundai Motor and Kia's Autonomous Driving demonstration vehicles and operating platform, while Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will establish a response system for accidents and develop Autonomous Driving insurance products.
Park Min-woo, head of the Hyundai Motor and Kia AVP Division, said, "This demonstration project will be an important inflection point in advancing domestic Autonomous Driving technology going forward. Through the demonstration, we will offer customers a high level of Autonomous Driving experience and, in the mid to long term, lay the groundwork for securing leadership in Autonomous Driving technology."