Hyundai has agreed to invest close to $1 billion in Motional, an all-electric robotaxi company, in a move that will give the Korean automaker a majority stake in the company.
The investment includes a direct injection of $475 million from Hyundai into Motional, as well as the purchase of shares from joint venture partner Aptiv. Hyundai will spend an additional $448 million to acquire an 11% stake in Aptiv’s share in Motional. Following this investment, Aptiv’s stake in Motional is expected to reduce from 50% to approximately 15% as of March 31, leaving Hyundai with an 85% stake.
Kevin Clark, chairman and CEO of automotive supplier Aptiv, had previously indicated in January that the company would reduce its stake in Motional. Aptiv cited the high cost of commercializing a robotaxi business and the long road to profitability as reasons for reducing its involvement. Hyundai’s investment is seen as a step to uphold Aptiv’s vision for Motional.
Motional has conducted tests of its autonomous vehicles in several cities, including Boston, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Singapore, with a safety driver present. The company’s strategy involves partnering with existing ride-hailing platforms such as Uber, Lyft, and Via to offer rides to customers. Motional aims to launch a robotaxi service using driverless, all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles in 2024.
In November 2023, Motional and Hyundai announced plans to jointly produce a production-ready version of the robotaxi version of the Ioniq 5 at Hyundai’s new innovation center in Singapore, the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre Singapore (HMGICS). Additionally, Motional revealed at CES 2024 that it will collaborate with Kia on a next-generation vehicle to be launched later this decade, with development already underway.
The investment in Motional comes at a time of uncertainty in the robotaxi industry. While Google subsidiary Waymo has launched a fully driverless robotaxi service in several cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, GM’s Cruise has faced setbacks, with its robotaxis yet to return to public roads following an incident in October 2023. Tesla, under CEO Elon Musk’s direction, has increased its focus on autonomy, aiming to deliver a robotaxi by August.
