Hyundai Is Investing Nearly $1 Billion To Support Motional, A Self-driving Firm
- Business
- May 3, 2024
Hyundai has committed to investing about $1 billion in Motional, giving the automaker a majority share and the funding the self-driving startup needs to remain operational.
As part of a larger agreement that also included buying out joint venture partner Aptiv, the Korean automaker made a direct $475 million investment in Motional. Hyundai will pay an additional $448 million to purchase 11% of Aptiv’s common stock stake in Motional as part of the agreement, as disclosed on Thursday in Aptiv’s first-quarter results release.
Additionally, Aptiv disclosed that, as of March 31, it plans to cut its 50% common ownership investment in Motional to roughly 15%, leaving Hyundai with the remaining 85% of the company. Kevin Clark, the chairman and CEO of Aptiv, announced in January that the business will be reducing its stake in Motional. Because of the expensive expense of commercializing a robotaxi business and the lengthy path to profitability, the company announced at the time that it would no longer be committing cash to Motional.
Aptiv lowered its full-year net sales estimate for 2024 on Thursday from between $21.3 billion and $21.9 billion to $20.85 billion to $21.45 billion.
Motional verified the fresh round of funding and Hyundai’s increased ownership, but it did not validate Aptiv’s figures. Conversely, Hyundai asserted that the figures presented in Aptiv’s earnings report were precise.