Yandex is looking for Chinese specialists to create the fifth generation of unmanned vehicles
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Yandex (MOEX: YNDX) is looking for Chinese specialists to create the fifth generation of unmanned vehicles. The company released the current models in 2020 in collaboration with Hyundai, but for the next generation it wants to create a universal system that can be adapted to different cars. This approach could become relevant given the fact that Hyundai no longer supplies or assembles cars in Russia, and domestic manufacturers and developers do not have the necessary competencies.
Kommersant discovered on Yandex’s LinkedIn page that the company was looking for an operating engineer in Suzhou, China, with experience in developing electronic control units (ECUs).
The specialist, according to the description, will have to cooperate with a certain “independent Chinese design bureau,” with which Yandex is currently developing an ECU for the “fifth generation robotaxi.” Previously, the preparation of a new model of an unmanned vehicle was not reported.
ECUs are embedded computer systems, each of which is responsible for the operation of a specific subsystem of the car: engine, suspension, etc. Self-driving cars and driver assistance systems are installed in self-driving cars. This unit processes data from vehicle sensors (cameras, lidars, etc.) and connects to the terrain positioning module. International manufacturers of such ECUs include Continental, Intel, Nvidia and Hitachi.
The current, fourth generation of Yandex robotaxis was introduced in 2020 based on the Hyundai Sonata. Its ECU, as reported by Yandex, was being finalized jointly with Hyundai Mobis. In 2019, Yandex and Hyundai Mobis signed an agreement of intent to create a platform for self-driving cars.
Nothing is known about the work of Hyundai Mobis in the Russian Federation after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Hyundai Motor announced in December 2023 that it would sell the plant in St. Petersburg to the Russian company Art-Finance, but will continue to provide after-sales services to customers.
Yandex explained to Kommersant that they are now developing a “universal solution” for autonomous driving that can be used on the basis of different cars: “In this regard, we are considering various platforms for creating a new generation of unmanned vehicles.”
The auto components industry in China is well developed. Russian automakers are actively switching to components from there due to the inability to purchase them through old supply chains. In addition, China is actively ordering the development of components and their integration.
Thus, the School of Transport of Southeast University of Nanjing signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Kama JSC and their Chinese ATOM Automotive Engineering and Technology (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. They discussed, in particular, the creation of software, the development of a battery and engine, as well as integration testing of the future Atom car (see “Kommersant” dated April 26, 2023).
China, according to McKinsey, will become the largest market for autonomous cars by 2030, IHS Markit claims that by that time the robotaxi segment alone will be valued at $178 billion. The world’s largest robotaxi network, Apollo Go from Baidu, is already operating in China.
In Russia, the ECU is produced by NPP Itelma, “but, of course, about achieving the fifth level of autonomy (full autopilot.— “Kommersant”) there is no question,” emphasizes Kommersant’s interlocutor.
In Suzhou, in addition to many small manufacturers of electronic components for cars, the Japanese Hitachi Astemo plant is based. A Kommersant source among auto component manufacturers notes that direct cooperation between Yandex and this structure is impossible in the current situation and will require the creation or involvement of structures independent of the Russian company.
Self-driving cars are one of the Yandex businesses that, according to the asset division plan announced in 2022, should go to the Dutch Yandex NV. During 2023, the international legal entities of the “unmanned” division of Yandex SDG began to be renamed Avride. Under the same brand, a company in the field of autonomous cars already operates in the United States, which, according to its website, employs Yandex employees.
Changes in the business structure are also visible in Russia: at the end of 2023, Yandex Unmanned Technologies LLC, according to SPARK data, transferred the rights to inventions related to autonomous driving and lidars to another Yandex legal entity – Alice Laboratory LLC, which is responsible for voice assistant and smart devices of the company.
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