Hyundai Motor Group to Mass-Produce 'Level 2+' Autonomous Vehicles in Two Years... Park Minwoo Says "It Will Become Difficult to Sell Cars Without Autonomous Driving"

Unveiling of 'Level 2++' Autonomous Driving Technology

Two-Track Strategy: NVIDIA Collaboration and Advancement of Atria AI

Rapid Learning with a Focus on Reliable Safety

Hyundai Motor Group will release a mass-produced vehicle equipped with 'Level 2+' autonomous driving technology in the first half of 2028. By collaborating with NVIDIA, the group aims to accelerate the development of autonomous driving technology, utilizing its large-scale mass production expertise to collect and analyze extensive data, with plans to surpass competitors technologically within five years.

On the 11th, Hyundai Motor Group announced this autonomous driving technology development strategy and plan at the "Autonomous Driving Media Day" held at the FortyTwoDot headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Minwoo Park, President and Head of the AVP Division at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation, as well as CEO of FortyTwoDot, said, "Going forward, it will become increasingly difficult to sell cars without autonomous driving technology. While it is hard to pinpoint the exact moment, that time is much closer now than previously anticipated."

Minwoo Park, President and Head of AVP Division at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, as well as CEO of FortyTwoDot, is presenting at the 'Autonomous Driving Media Day' held on the 11th at FortyTwoDot headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Hyundai Motor Company

He also emphasized, "Building a great car and building great AI are two entirely different games. In the past, engine performance, fuel efficiency, and torque determined a vehicle's competitiveness, but new competitiveness now lies in accurate perception of surroundings, natural decision-making, and safe driving capabilities."

CEO Park added, "In the AI competition, it is not about finding a single answer but about continuously improving performance. It is important to operate a virtuous cycle quickly, stably, and at greater scale, in which data is consistently collected, AI is trained, and performance is enhanced as a result."

On this day, Hyundai Motor Group unveiled for the first time a video showing an SDV (software-defined vehicle) testbed equipped with 'Atria AI,' its autonomous driving AI developed together with FortyTwoDot, driving through the streets of Seoul. The video demonstrated 'Level 2++' autonomous driving technology, with the vehicle navigating highways and alleyways on its own without any driver intervention.

Hyundai Motor Group Autonomous Driving 'Atria AI' Driving Video. Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor Group Autonomous Driving 'Atria AI' Driving Video. Hyundai Motor Company

Since March, Hyundai Motor Group has been pursuing a "two-track strategy" to accelerate mass production of autonomous vehicles by utilizing NVIDIA's technology while internalizing its proprietary AI technology. By integrating NVIDIA’s automotive AI computing platform and autonomous driving software into the SDV vehicle architecture, the group plans to apply 'Level 2+' functionality based on NVIDIA solutions to mass-produced vehicles in the first half of 2028, and to launch vehicles with 'Level 2++' applied in the second half of that year.

To this end, the AVP Division, FortyTwoDot, and the U.S.-based autonomous driving joint venture Motional will progressively standardize their sensor systems around NVIDIA Drive 'Hyperion 10.' This is expected to enable the collection and utilization of even more extensive data.

Simultaneously, Hyundai Motor Group will further advance 'Atria AI' and mass-produce 'Level 2++' vehicles based on Atria AI in the second half of 2029. Once this level is reached, the group expects to introduce a variety of autonomous driving technologies tailored for sales regions not only in Korea but also in North America, Europe, and China.

On the same day, Hyundai Motor Group also revealed the "data flywheel" technology—which continuously and repeatedly collects, trains, verifies, and deploys AI with data—as the core foundation for advanced autonomous driving, and disclosed the detailed methodology and implementation framework for developing autonomous driving technology.

The key to autonomous driving functions is how many unexpected, specific situations—so-called "edge cases" (unpredictable events on the road)—can be collected and analyzed, rather than general driving scenarios. Currently, FortyTwoDot operates around 40 data-gathering vehicles. However, about half of the data collected involves steady straight-line driving, which is of limited value when it comes to advancing AI.

Accordingly, since CEO Park took office, FortyTwoDot has introduced the "Special Event Record (SER)" system, which records critical events that occur during autonomous driving. The system automatically logs data whenever certain situations such as rapid acceleration or braking are detected, or when either the driver or the system disables the autonomous driving function.

Minwoo Park, President and Head of AVP Division at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation and CEO of Forty Two Dot, is speaking at the 'Autonomous Driving Media Day' held on the 11th at the Forty Two Dot headquarters in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. Hyundai Motor Company

Employees of FortyTwo Dot are inspecting an autonomous driving research vehicle. Hyundai Motor Company

Hyundai Motor Group autonomous driving research vehicle. Hyundai Motor Company

Furthermore, Hyundai Motor Group will establish a "Data Union" system, expanding the scope of data utilization both inside and outside the group on the basis of standardized sensor configurations and data structures. This forms a kind of data ecosystem in which data collected from various vehicles and organizations—such as Hyundai Motor, Kia, FortyTwoDot, and Motional—is accumulated and used for training.

Through the autonomous driving demonstration project in Gwangju starting at the end of this year, the group will further advance “Level 4” autonomous driving technology. A software-defined vehicle (SDV) pace car equipped with Atria AI will be deployed for demonstrations to evaluate the technology’s performance and reliability.

Jung Hyun Kwon, Executive Vice President and Head of Autonomous Driving R&D at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation, and Head of AD Division at FortyTwoDot, commented, "Through the Gwangju demonstration project, we can secure various Level 4 driving scenarios. As the number of vehicles increases, collected data will also increase, and as data accumulates, AI will become more advanced—this virtuous cycle enables us to accelerate technology development and improve safety."

In addition, FortyTwoDot disclosed that it has also embarked on developing next-generation autonomous driving technology based on the VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model, which integrates visual information, language-based reasoning, and vehicle behavior generation. Cited as a core technology in the field of physical AI—including autonomous driving and robotics—the VLA model will be developed alongside Atria AI to provide diverse solutions.

Heeseok Lee, Head of Next-Generation Autonomous Driving at FortyTwoDot, explained, "With the VLA model, it is possible to explain not only how to handle edge cases but also communication with users and the reasoning behind driving decisions. If Atria AI is developed in combination with VLA, it could reach the same level as NVIDIA’s Alpha Myo."

Meanwhile, CEO Park, who took office last February, remarked, "The most important thing I did after taking office was instructing the development of SER. This enables us to create high value-added data." He added, "I also spent a lot of time on organizational restructuring for the data flywheel, dedicating significant effort to shaping the direction of the organization and teams."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.