Hyundai’s $1 Billion Investment in Autonomous Driving Startup Faces Setback as Aptiv Seeks to Reduce Ownership Share

In March 2020, Hyundai established the autonomous driving startup Motional alongside Irish-American automotive technology company Aptiv. The South Korean automaker made a significant investment of nearly $1 billion in developing self-driving technology through this startup. This decision was made in order to actively develop autonomous driving technology and internalize core technology, according to Hyundai.

The automaker plans to spend $487,889,235 in capital increase and an additional $456,246,344 to acquire 11% of Aptiv’s share in Motional, increasing its total share to 66.8%. Hyundai believes that the additional investment from Aptiv will enhance Motional’s technological competitiveness by setting the direction for technology development and building a foundation for expanding synergy within Hyundai Motor Group’s autonomous driving units.

In January 2024, however, Aptiv announced that it would cease allocating capital to Motional and seek ways to reduce its ownership share due to the startup’s significant operating losses over the past three years, totaling $1,471,530,400 according to reports from Hyundai Motor Group’s affiliates. Despite this setback, Motional showcased its self-driving technology in the United States by testing the Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxi in March. The demonstration proved successful as Motional’s self-driving tech passed a typical United States driver’s license test with the Ioniq 5.

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