Hyundai Motor and Kia are teaming up with Samsung to improve infotainment systems in future vehicles

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Automotive giants Hyundai Motor Group and Kia have announced a new strategic technology partnership with Samsung Electronics that will help them transition towards the future of software-defined vehicles (SDV).

In an interview with TechRadar at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year, Chang Song, president and head of Hyundai Motor Group’s Advanced Vehicle Platforms (AVP) division, explained how Hyundai and Kia are rapidly moving toward the SDV era, where constantly connected cars could do more than just transport passengers from A to B, offering on-demand services, the ability to interact with partner apps, and smart home controls.

The recent partnership with Samsung solidifies this concept and will enable further integration of Samsung’s SmartThings IoT platform with the future infotainment system that Chang Song is working on.

This also means that Samsung’s popular Galaxy smartphones will enjoy greater integration with future cars, allowing users to check key vehicle data such as battery range, upcoming service intervals and even vehicle location from their phones.

In addition, Hyundai Motor Group wants the vehicle to better fit into everyday life by allowing one Samsung Electronics account to manage everything, including health care, pet care and vehicle systems, in one convenient place.

Chang Song is also a founding member of 42dot, an innovative autonomous transportation company now part of the broader Hyundai Motor Group.

His vision is to create a seamless mobility system where a single application or software will operate private cars and also have the ability to invoke autonomous ride-sharing services and potentially electronic vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles. like those currently being developed by sister company Supernal.

Analysis: Will ‘killer apps’ kill your car?

The partnership with Samsung demonstrates Hyundai Motor and Kia’s commitment to a future where the car as we know it becomes more a part of our digital lives than a simple means of transportation.

Chang Song talked about his plan to invite third-party developers to create “killer apps” for his future systems that would effectively do what Internet Explorer did for Microsoft computers in the 1990s.

Software-defined vehicles – and to some extent electric vehicles – are setting the automotive industry on a path where cars become a commodity, where customers treat their vehicles like smartphones, chopping and changing depending on who offers the best digital experience.

The private ownership model as we know it today is likely to change as technological advances allow companies like Hyundai and Kia to become transportation service providers rather than mere car manufacturers.

Song’s influence on software development, as well as the recent integration of Samsung, will bring more of the wider digital world to the car. Checking smart refrigerators, turning on lights remotely, and being able to locate your vehicle using your Galaxy phone is just the beginning.

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