Park Min-woo, head of the Hyundai Motor·Kia AVP (Advanced Vehicle Platform) division and president and CEO of 42dot, said, "Our goal is Autonomous Driving at the best-in-class level based on customer trust."
In an interview with HMG Journal released on the 10th, Park said, "Early-stage research alone is not enough. We must apply the technologies we develop to mass-production vehicles quickly, accurately, and without error."
Emphasizing an execution-first approach, Park also said, "The future will not be decided by 'who developed the technology first,' but by 'who expanded products that anyone can use with confidence into the market more quickly and reliably.'"
Park said, "We no longer compete solely on technology development," adding, "We compete on how quickly we secure data, how efficiently we use it, and how fast we turn it into better products."
He also stressed a "two-track" strategy for this competition. Park said, "We must shorten commercialization timelines through global collaboration, minimize time-to-market, and use the vast driving data accumulated via partnerships to further advance the group's own end-to-end (E2E) Autonomous Driving model."
To accelerate technological progress, Hyundai Motor Group is using a Data Union that consolidates and leverages Autonomous Driving data from group companies such as 42dot and Motional, as well as external partners.
Based on this, it is also pursuing standardization of Autonomous Driving sensors. Park said, "Ultimately, Hyundai Motor Group's goal is to secure (Autonomous Driving) safety and reliability with our own technology."
On differences in perspective between research and development and mass production, Park said, "Clashes of opinion are inevitable. What matters is turning conflict into positive friction that helps us build a more perfect product."
He added, "Please focus on creating the best technology that helps people," and said, "If failures occur, leadership will take responsibility."
Park was an early core member of the Tesla Autopilot development team who led the design of Tesla Vision, and served as vice president of NVIDIA's Autonomous Driving perception technology organization before joining Hyundai Motor in Feb. this year.
On why he joined, he said, "Hyundai Motor Group already has world-class hardware capabilities and software potential, and it had a clear will to move forward as a smart mobility solutions company."
The interview was conducted to introduce the group's technology strategy and talent development direction ahead of the HMG Tech Talent Forum 2026, to be held in San Jose over two days from Sept. 17.