South Korea’s Hyundai and Kia join China’s Baidu to develop connected cars

Hyundai Kia Baidu: South Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor and its subsidiary Kia on Sunday said they have signed a deal with Chinese tech giant Baidu to develop technology for connected cars.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Beijing last week, the two South Korean carmakers and Baidu will join hands in a number of areas including connectivity and self-driving technologies.

Hyundai and Kia will also use Baidu’s smart cloud computing technology to address Beijing’s growing data regulations, Yonhap news agency reports.

He said South Korean companies will also explore new business models using artificial intelligence technologies with their Chinese counterparts.

“Through strategic cooperation with Baidu, we will strive to establish an ecosystem for connected cars in the Chinese market,” Hyundai and Kia said in a press release.

The deal comes amid the growing market for connected cars in China.

Hyundai, citing Chinese data, said annual sales of connected cars in China are projected to reach 17 million units this year, a sharp increase from 7.2 million units in 2019.

Hyundai and Kia have been working closely with Baidu since 2014, including the development of voice recognition technology.