Hyundai Mobis, South Korea's biggest auto parts supplier and the global industry's seventh, began 2020 with a bang, using CES in Las Vegas to unveil its forward-looking M.Vision S concept platform of self-driving technologies.
While the past four months have derailed automaker and supplier alike, Hyundai Mobis has continued inching toward its goal of becoming a leading competitor in autonomous and electrified vehicles in the coming decade.
Despite the halt in normal industry activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said last month it is expanding its global R&D operations, with a new center in India focused on the development of control logic for autonomous driving and parking and recognition algorithms for autonomous cameras, radar and lidar systems. The supplier also is beefing up R&D centers in China, Germany and the United States.
Hyundai Mobis also said it is moving ahead with a new concept for roof airbags, meeting with NHTSA officials to review the technology. The proposed airbag would cover a sunroof in the event of a collision.
But the Korean supplier has not escaped the hit of the global health crisis. The industry shutdown resulted in a 28.3 percent drop in first-quarter net profits, Hyundai Mobis announced last month.
It was particularly hard hit in China, where its parts sales fell nearly 56 percent for the quarter, according to the company.
That exposure to the China market might now work to the company's benefit, as China returns to more normal business conditions ahead of North America. The supplier is determined to pursue two objectives: reaching deeper into emerging technologies, including sensors and communication lighting, while also seeking future business outside of its traditional customer base, the Hyundai Motor Group.
