Samsung Motors is back? It has set up an autonomous driving R&D team

Recently, South Korean media TheBell reported that Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology has established a new team to research autonomous driving technology.

Samsung has been increasing its automotive business since it established its auto parts division in 2015.

In May 2017, it became the first company in South Korea to obtain a license for testing autonomous vehicles, and has now formed an autonomous driving R&D team.

In 1994, Lee Kun-hee, then president of Samsung Group, founded Samsung Motors. In Lee Kun-hee's view, automobiles are the results of various industries, and the establishment of an automobile department will help cooperation between subsidiaries of Samsung Group (such as Samsung Electric Power and Samsung Electronics).

In 1998, the first car with the Samsung logo hit the market.

In 1998, South Korea was deeply hit by the Asian financial crisis. The whole country was in mourning, and the Korean automobile industry was also experiencing an unprecedented crisis. Hyundai and Kia, Daewoo and Ssangyong all joined forces to keep warm. At this time, Lee Kun-hee had no choice but to put the overall situation first and personally ruined his dream of making cars. He also said that he would never enter the automobile market again.

In 2000, French Renault Group purchased 70% of Samsung Motors for US$512 million and changed its name to Renault Samsung Motors. In order to open up the Korean and even Asian markets, Renault signed a 10-year trademark use agreement with Samsung Group, which was extended to 2020 in 2010.

At this time, Renault Samsung has become a production base for Renault and Nissan OEM products.

In 2015, Samsung established an automotive parts department and began to enter the automotive industry, and subsequently continued to expand its automotive business.

In 2016, Samsung spent US$8 billion to acquire Harman International Industries, an American auto parts manufacturer, which is also Samsung Electronics' largest acquisition to date.

Harman was founded in 1953 and is a pioneer in the field of global audio technology. In the past few years, Harman has accelerated its entry into the automotive parts field and has received large orders from automotive giants such as General Motors and Fiat Chrysler.

In May 2017, Samsung became the first company in South Korea to obtain a license for testing autonomous vehicles, and has now established an autonomous driving R&D team.

In addition to its achievements in the field of intelligent driving, Samsung is also the world's leading supplier of power batteries, and has deep technical reserves in emerging battery technologies such as solid-state batteries, graphene batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.