Hyundai expects to become the leader in the American robotic taxi market
Korean automaker Hyundai Motor is full of ambition in emerging market segments. It not only intends to become the largest manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles but also claims to be the leader in the segment of services for the transportation of American customers in robotic taxis. The service will debut in three US cities in 2023.
To conquer the American market for passenger transportation using automated vehicles, Hyundai Motor participated in a joint venture with American autopilot systems developers Aptiv called Motional in March this year, Business Korea explains. The well-known service Lyft will become a partner for expansion in the US market, as Motional representatives recently noted. In three US cities, robotic taxis will begin serving customers as early as 2023.
Since 2018, Lyft and Aptiv have been testing robotic taxis in Las Vegas, with over 100,000 test rides. Customer satisfaction reaches 98% based on ratings on the Lyft app. In the next two years, Motional intends to expand both the geography of services in US cities and the number of vehicles. Cars for this service will be created on the Hyundai Motor platform, which will allow a step-by-step transition from the third level of autonomy to the fourth. Let us recall that there are five such levels in total – the latter does not imply the presence of manual controls and human intervention at all.
To become the largest provider of such services in the United States, Motional intends to actively expand the service from 2023. Already in 2022, the production of cars with a third level autonomy will be launched. The Korean auto giant has already invested $ 2 billion in the Motional joint venture.
