Samsung and Hyundai Motor join hands for ADAS semiconductor [2025-2026 luxury vehicles]

This is the first such deal between Samsung and Hyundai Motor, the two largest conglomerates in South Korea.

Sources said the collaboration comes from the trust between Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor executive chairman Chung Eui-sun, the two leaders of the conglomerate.

Samsung and Hyundai Motor in the past were considered rivals and the two groups rarely collaborated during the eras of past chairmen.

The animosity stemmed from Samsung attempting to manufacture its own automobiles in the 90s, which made them a direct rival to Hyundai Motor. Samsung eventually had to offload its vehicle manufacturing facilities and business during the Asian Financial Crisis.

Samsung System LSI, Samsung’s logic chip designing business, has been collaborating with Hyundai Motor since late last year on designing the chips, sources said.

Hyundai Motor has requested that Samsung design the main ADAS chip, infotainment chip and connectivity chip that will connect these two systems.

All three chips are SoCs and will be made using Samsung’s 5-nanometer process node.

ADAS chip is the first one being worked on and the project started in October.

Samsung will handle resister transfer level coding and gate design through synthesis tool in South Korea.

Verification, cell placement and routing and other late workloads will be handled at Samsung’s research lab in India. The Samsung Semiconductor India Research Center is under Samsung India, the Korean giant’s subsidiary in India.

The design for the other two chips will start sometime during the middle of this year.

Samsung System LSI won the contract from Hyundai Motor and it will be placing the order on Samsung Foundry for production. Samsung System LSI has experience in designing such chips for Audi and Tesla.

The sources said the chips will be used in high-end models that Hyundai Motor will launch between 2025 and 2026.

Hyundai Motor in the past procured such chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia, Intel and other foreign companies.

The recent deal with Samsung reflects increasing concern over supply chain following the pandemic, the sources also said.