A Hyundai Motor Group unit and Russia’s biggest technology company Yandex NV will jointly develop autonomous vehicles based the South Korean automotive giant’s cars.
Carmakers and tech companies are racing to rollout self-driving cars. Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and BMW have set aside traditional rivalries, while Volvo Cars and Baidu Inc. have joined forces to develop robotaxis in China.
The first stage of the joint venture between Yandex and Hyundai Mobis Co., the de-facto holding company of the Korean group, will see the two companies working on developing a prototype driverless car, the Russian technology firm said in a statement Tuesday. The deal will also build an autonomous control system to be marketed to rival car manufacturers and car-sharing startups.