Key points
- Hyundai's own system, Atria AI, is due in 2029
- Cars from 2028 use Nvidia-based driving technology
- Executive says the delay was deliberate
- Sensors standardized so older cars can update
Hyundai Motor Group plans to put its own Atria AI driving model into mass-produced cars in the second half of 2029. Before then, it plans to use Nvidia-based autonomous-driving technology in vehicles launching from 2028, gathering the road data it says Atria needs to improve.
That does not mean Hyundai is outsourcing the whole car's software. Park says the first software-defined vehicle uses Hyundai's own SDV technology. The driving technology is the part developed with Nvidia.
The group laid out the roadmap at an autonomous driving media day on September 11. It was held at the Seongnam headquarters of 42dot, the software company developing Atria AI with Hyundai and Kia's Advanced Vehicle Platform division.
The roadmap
Hyundai's first software-defined vehicle goes on sale in early 2028, with production preparation finishing in late 2027, Money Today (머니투데이) reported in August. Park Min-woo (박민우), who runs the Advanced Vehicle Platform division at Hyundai and Kia and is chief executive of 42dot, said of that car that "the SDV technology that goes into it is our own technology."
Hyundai labels the driving features Level 2+ in the first half of 2028 and Level 2++ in the second half. Those are the company's own labels rather than standard SAE automation levels. At Level 2 the car steers and controls speed while the driver stays responsible, so none of this is a self-driving car. Hyundai plans to begin installing Atria AI in mass-produced Level 2++ cars from the second half of 2029, Money Today reported after the media day.
Separately, Hyundai plans to put Level 4 demonstration vehicles on the road in the Gwangju and South Jeolla area by the end of this year, Newspim (뉴스핌) reported.
Hyundai says it slowed down on purpose
Park said the timing was a choice, not a setback.
"We strategically delayed it a little on purpose," he said. His reasoning is that a rushed launch would drain development resources the group would rather spend on staying competitive later.
"The essence of the competition in autonomous driving is, in the end, a competition in learning speed," Park said at the same event.
Hyundai says data and integration experience from the Nvidia-based vehicles will feed back into Atria AI. Park has put the same point more plainly, that gathering meaningful amounts of data means putting a lot of cars on the road. At an earlier investor day, Park said Hyundai could overtake its competitors on accumulated data around 2033.
What has to happen first
Kwon Jung-hyun (권정현), who heads the autonomous driving development center at Hyundai and Kia, set out the steps.
"By 2027 we will raise the completeness of the functions that are needed, such as driving and parking, and in 2028 we will secure data on a range of exceptional situations and lift safety," Kwon said. "In 2029 we will respond to domestic and international certification and prepare for mass production."
One design decision points further out than the launch dates. Hyundai is standardizing the sensor set across the cars it builds from 2028. The point is that AI models can keep being updated on those cars years after they're sold.
"The goal is to build a structure where even a car bought seven or eight years ago can have an advanced AI model applied to it," Park said.
The quotes from Park Min-woo and Kwon Jung-hyun are translated from Korean.
