Hyundai Motor plans to use internally developed chips in new cars

According to the Seoul Economic Daily on September 3, South Korea's Hyundai Motor plans to use automotive chips developed internally in a new car to be launched next year.

(Image source: Hyundai Motor)

The report cited an unnamed industry source as saying that Hyundai Motor plans to develop power chips based on silicon carbide technology in-house. The report also said that Hyundai Motor Research Center and its automotive parts subsidiary Hyundai Mobis led the chip design process and cooperated with several companies, including system chip maker Magnachip Semiconductor.

Due to the epidemic and production problems in chip factories, there is a shortage of semiconductor chips, which has forced global automakers to suspend production and reduce shifts. Hyundai Motor's production has also been hit. In the first half of the year's earnings conference call, the company stated that it will strengthen cooperation with semiconductor companies in the future. In addition, Hyundai Motor will actively expand local parts production, diversify the supply chain, manage inventory, and continue to look for alternative chip parts to prevent parts shortages.

An unnamed Hyundai Motor executive told The New York Times that Hyundai Motor aims to apply the internally developed power chip to a new car to be launched in the second quarter of next year. It is reported that the new car may be the Ioniq 6, an electric car that Hyundai Motor will launch next year. Hyundai Motor revealed that the mass production date of the chip has not yet been disclosed. Hyundai Motor did not immediately comment.

In June this year, it was reported that Hyundai and its subsidiaries were in talks with local chip companies to reduce their reliance on foreign chip supplies.