Car-sharing company SOCAR is joining hands with Krafton to commercialize Autonomous Driving services.
SOCAR said on the 30th it is pushing to establish an Autonomous Driving corporation worth 150 billion won, with Krafton and others participating as investors.
Park Jae-uk, SOCAR CEO, who has led SOCAR's new Autonomous Driving business since January, will also serve as CEO of the new corporation. The corporation is scheduled to be established in May.
As part of the partnership, Krafton will make a strategic investment in SOCAR worth 65 billion won via a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase. While joining as a major shareholder of SOCAR, it will also participate as a key investor in the new corporation through a separate investment. SOCAR, for its part, plans to contribute cash and data asset to participate in the establishment of the new corporation, subject to board approval.
SOCAR will focus the Autonomous Driving data and mobility platform operating capabilities it has accumulated over the past 15 years into the new corporation. Future Mobility TF, which SOCAR launched early this year, is collecting in real time about 1.1 million km of actual driving data per day in the first quarter, based on a car-sharing fleet of 25,000 vehicles.
The new corporation will pursue phased commercialization of Autonomous Driving services. Starting with car-sharing services at the L2 (level 2) stage, it plans to expand into B2C services based on full Autonomous Driving at the L4 (level 4) stage. While internalizing technology and verifying actual services in parallel to build proprietary technology and service operation capabilities, it will also pursue partnerships and grow into a future mobility service company with global competitiveness.
Park Jae-uk, SOCAR CEO, said, "Our goal goes beyond merely completing Autonomous Driving technology; we aim to successfully commercialize it and fundamentally transform users' travel habits and quality of life," adding, "Building on the 15 years of data and operational know-how SOCAR has honed through car sharing, we will set a new standard in the future mobility market."