LX Semicon said on the 10th that its automotive microcontroller unit (MCU) "LX61101" has entered mass production and begun supply to Hyundai Motor and Kia. The company is drawing industry attention because this is the first result in its automotive MCU business nurtured as a new venture and the first domestically made MCU to be installed in Hyundai Motor and Kia finished vehicles.
The LX61101 is a system semiconductor specialized for motor control in automotive body electrical systems. It determines the motor's speed, position, rotation direction and torque in real time to control operation, and is characterized by a compact design and high system efficiency. Based on a 40 MHz ARM Cortex-M3 core, it enables precise motor control. The product is used for window anti-pinch functions and aerodynamic control systems in vehicles, and Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to expand the range of models sequentially starting with vehicles produced in the second half of this year.
LX Semicon has so far focused its business on display driver ICs. It has fostered automotive MCUs as a new growth engine since 2022 to diversify its business portfolio and respond to the reorganization of global automotive supply chains and the spread of electrification. This is the result of extending the technological capabilities accumulated in home appliance MCUs to the automotive sector.
In March 2023, LX Semicon took part in Hyundai Motor and Kia's process to select a new supplier for "motor function–specialized MCUs" and was confirmed as the contractor in April of the same year. After about three years of development and quality verification, it succeeded in mass production, and in the process also met AEC-Q100, the automotive semiconductor reliability standard, and the functional safety international standard ISO 26262.
Another feature is that domestic companies handled the entire supply chain management (SCM) process from design to foundry and back-end processing. The industry views this as the first case where the supply base for domestic MCUs has been established and the top domestic fabless company, finished carmakers, and the system semiconductor production and back-end processing ecosystem are organically connected.
According to market research firms, the global automotive MCU market is estimated at about 15.5 trillion won in 2025. A LX Semicon official said, "We will nurture the automotive MCU business over the mid to long term and expand our product lineup beyond control to communication, drive, sensor and power," adding, "Through automotive semiconductors, we will broaden the company's growth opportunities and contribute to expanding the base of the domestic finished car industry and the semiconductor sector."