Hyundai to build autonomous cars for ride-hailing services
What's the story
Hyundai has announced a partnership with Yandex spinoff Avride to develop fully autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing services.
As part of the partnership, Avride will integrate its self-driving technology into 100 Hyundai Ioniq 5 SUVs this year.
The Ioniq 5 cars for Avride's fleet will be built at the new Hyundai Metaplant America factory in Georgia, US.
Expansion
Avride's expansion plans and partnership with Uber
Avride, which already runs sidewalk delivery robots in some cities, plans to launch a commercial robotaxi service soon.
The company has been testing Ioniq 5 and Hyundai Sonata models in Austin as well as Seoul for the last year.
Ahead of its commercial service launch, Avride announced plans for a major fleet expansion.
The first batch of these vehicles will arrive in Dallas later this year under an agreement with Uber.
Background
Avride's origin and rebranding
Avride came from Yandex, one of Russia's largest tech giants.
The company was testing its vehicles in the US until Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 forced most Western businesses to cut ties with it.
In 2023, Yandex rebranded as Avride after its parent company (now called Nebius) sold all of its Russian assets for $5.2 billion and cut ties with its home country.
Avride is now based in Austin, Texas.