Hyundai to invest $923 million on self-driving JV Motional

Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s third-largest automaker, is set to spend nearly $1 billion on Motional, its loss-making self-driving joint venture with Aptiv PLC, amid a sustained delay in the rollout of the robotaxi service.

The leading South Korean automotive conglomerate said on Friday that is has decided to invest $475 million in Motional’s rights offering and buy 11% of Aptiv’s common equity interest in the 50:50 joint venture for $448 million.

“Hyundai Motor Group decided to obtain stable management rights in Motional to proactively develop autonomous driving technology and internalize core technology,” the carmaker said.

The investments are set to raise Hyundai Motor Group’s stake to 66.8%, according to the group. Aptiv and the maker of electric vehicles such as the IONIQ 5 each injected $2 billion to establish Motional in 2020.

Separately, Aptiv said on Thursday it plans to exchange up to 21% of common equity interest for preferred shares in addition to the stake sale to Hyundai Motor Group to cut its common equity interest in Motional to 15% from the current 50%.

Earlier this year, Aptiv, a self-driving technology company, decided to reduce a significant portion of its stake in Motional and not to provide additional capital into the joint venture.

TO SPEED UP AUTONOMOUS DRIVING TECHNOLOGY

Hyundai Motor Co., the group’s largest automaker, is set to inject 345 billion won ($247.2 million), while its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. and its auto parts-making affiliate Hyundai Mobis Co. are poised to spend 186 billion won and 132 billion won, respectively, for Motional’s rights offering, according to the group.

To buy Aptiv’s stake in Motional, Hyundai Motor Co. plans to invest 325 billion won. Kia and Hyundai Mobis will spend 175 billion won and 125 billion won, respectively.

Hyundai Motor Group aims to speed up autonomous driving technology development and create stable profit sources through those investments.

“It is expected to enhance technology competitiveness by setting up the direction for Motional’s technology development and establish the foundation for the expansion of synergy among the group’s self-driving sectors,” a Hyundai Motor Group official said.

Motional operates an autonomous vehicle taxi service in Las Vegas on ride-hailing platforms such as Uber, Lyft and Via, with human operators behind the wheel.

Motional postponed the launch of commercial services of the IONIQ 5 robotaxi in the US from the end of 2023 to 2024. The IONIQ 5 is Hyundai Motor Co.’s all-electric midsize crossover.

Write to Jung-Eun Shin at newyearis@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.