'Hyundai has both hardware and software capabilities'

Two-track strategy pairs global collaboration with in-house tech development

Tech vision to be shared at Silicon Valley forum in September

Park Min-woo, president and head of the AVP Division at Hyundai Motor Co and Kia. [Hyundai Motor Group]
Park Min-woo, president and head of the AVP Division at Hyundai Motor Co and Kia. [Hyundai Motor Group]

Park Min-woo, president and head of the Advanced Vehicle Platform Division at Hyundai Motor Co and Kia, has identified "execution" as the decisive factor in the future mobility market — arguing that reliably delivering trustworthy autonomous driving products at scale matters more than simply being first to develop the technology.

"The future will be determined not by who develops the technology first, but by who can bring a product to market faster, more reliably, and in a way that anyone can use with confidence," Park said in an interview Hyundai Motor Group released Wednesday. "Frontier research alone is not enough. What matters is raising the technology to a level that real customers can trust."

Park is a globally recognized autonomous driving expert who was an early core member of the Tesla Autopilot development team and later led the autonomous driving perception technology organization at Nvidia. He joined Hyundai Motor and Kia as head of the AVP Division and as CEO of 42dot earlier this year.

On his decision to join Hyundai Motor, Park said mobility innovation becomes possible "when scalable hardware capabilities and powerful software technology are organically combined." He added that Hyundai Motor Group stood out for possessing both world-class hardware competitiveness and software potential, along with a clear commitment to transforming itself into a smart mobility solutions company.

Park said Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing an "execution-first" approach to internalizing autonomous driving software, raising both the speed of commercialization and the level of reliability at the same time. The group is also strengthening its data utilization capabilities through a two-track strategy that pursues global collaboration alongside in-house technology development — securing commercialization experience and validation capabilities through external partnerships while building its own autonomous driving technology and software-defined vehicle development capacity.

"We will continuously refine Hyundai Motor Group's end-to-end autonomous driving model using the vast driving data accumulated through partnerships," Park said. "The ultimate goal is to secure safety and reliability through our own technology."

Hyundai Motor Group is working to standardize autonomous driving sensors and build a "data union" framework involving Hyundai Motor, Kia, 42dot and Motional. The strategy centers on a "data flywheel" structure — a cycle of data acquisition, model improvement and mass production application — to strengthen the group's autonomous driving competitiveness.

Park also highlighted robotics as a key future growth pillar. "Technology must not stop at proving what is possible," he said. "It must become the best technology that actually helps people, through commercialization and large-scale mass production."

On his organizational philosophy, Park described tensions between hardware and software teams and between research-and-development and production units as "positive friction." "In the midst of this whirlwind of change, clashes of opinion are inevitable," he said. "What matters is turning that conflict into positive friction that helps us build a better product."

He said organic collaboration among hardware, software, R&D and mass production teams is central to competitiveness in the software-defined vehicle era. "After intense debate leads to a decision, the entire organization must also have the maturity to move forward as one team," he said.

The interview was arranged ahead of the HMG Tech Talent Forum 2026, scheduled for Sept. 17-18 local time in San Jose, California, to introduce the technology philosophy and future vision of the forum's key speakers. Park is set to appear alongside Hyundai Motor President José Muñoz, R&D Division head Manfred Harrer and Chief People Officer Kim Hye-in to share their vision for future mobility technology and talent strategy.


eyre@heraldcorp.com