Hyundai Motor, Kia to Test Level 4 Autonomous Trucks on 400km Logistics Route

Representatives from Hyundai Motor, Kia, Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, Mars Auto and RideFlux pose for a photo at the signing ceremony for a Level 4 autonomous truck logistics demonstration project at Hyundai Motor Group's Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 20. Hyundai Motor and Kia are moving to accelerate the era of driverless logistics by launching Level 4 autonomous driving demonstrations involving heavy-duty trucks, following earlier efforts in the city bus sector. The companies aim to leverage the repetitive routes typically used by large trucks to verify the technology's reliability under real-world road conditions and collect critical data needed for commercialization. On Oct. 20, Hyundai Motor and Kia signed a memorandum of understanding for the "Level 4 Autonomous Truck Logistics Transport Demonstration Project" with Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Glovis, Mars Auto and RideFlux at the Namyang R&D Center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The agreement centers on deploying autonomous trucks on existing logistics routes operated by Hyundai Motor Group to assess vehicle control performance and operational safety. Two vehicles will be used in the demonstration: one XCIENT Fuel Cell hydrogen-powered truck and one conventional XCIENT truck. Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to complete development of the test vehicles, equipped with dedicated controllers and interfaces for integrating autonomous driving systems, by early 2027. Full-scale testing is scheduled to take place by the end of 2027 across two environments: a roughly 100 km route combining highways and urban roads, and a long-distance route of approximately 400 km consisting primarily of highways. The project will operate as a private-sector collaboration bringing together automakers, autonomous driving software developers and a logistics operator. Mars Auto and RideFlux will install autonomous driving systems optimized for their respective test vehicles, while Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis will make existing logistics routes available and support overall demonstration operations. Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to use the data collected during the trials to advance safety redundancy technology. Safety redundancy enables a backup system to intervene immediately and maintain a vehicle in a safe condition if a primary system fails while driving. It is considered essential to ensuring the safety of autonomous heavy-duty trucks, which frequently operate at night and over long distances. Park Sang-hyun, executive vice president in charge of Commercial LCM at Hyundai Motor and Kia, said, "Autonomous trucks are a key future mobility solution that can improve the safety and efficiency of logistics transportation. We will gradually establish the foundation for commercializing Level 4 autonomous driving by securing the vehicle control technologies required in real-world logistics environments." Beyond the heavy-duty truck demonstration, Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its autonomous driving ecosystem across the commercial vehicle sector. On Oct. 1, the group signed an agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government to commercialize Level 4 autonomous city buses. Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor and Kia recorded combined second-quarter revenue of 82.25 trillion won, or approximately $61.95 billion, marking their highest combined quarterly revenue on record.