Tag: Hyundai

Hyundai Joins Growing Push for Usage-Based Insurance

2022 Hyundai Tucson N Line front

Hyundai is offering more than just a new line-up of sport-utility vehicles now, introducing its new usage-based insurance program.

Hyundai is the latest automaker to let its buyers switch to insurance coverage based on both how much they use their vehicles and how well they drive.

So-called “usage-based” insurance is already offered by several other manufacturers, including Ford Motor Co., as well as some of the country’s largest insurance companies like Nationwide and Progressive. It has become easier to track vehicle usage thanks to onboard connected car technology and some experts believe that may lead to a switch in the way highway and fuel taxes are levied, as well.

“As demand for more transparent auto insurance pricing grows, usage-based insurance is a powerful way for Hyundai drivers to have greater control over their insurance costs,” said Manish Mehrotra, the executive director of Digital Business Planning and Connected Operations, Hyundai Motor North America. “Our owners expect this kind of technology and want to pay the right amount. No one wants to pay more than they actually should.”

Capturing a Snapshot of driver behavior

Hyundai is offering its insurance program through its Blue Link service.

The first pay-as-you-drive insurance program, Progressive’s Snapshot, was introduced in the mid-1990s. It focused on tracking driver behavior, rewarding motorists who accelerated and braked more cautiously with reduced rates. Aggressive drivers faced the prospect of being penalized.

Early on, insurers relied on data collected using a vehicle’s OBDII sensor, the data periodically uploaded to the company for analysis.

Hyundai’s approach relies on its Blue Link Connected car technology and, when a vehicle is equipped with a two-way telecommunications system, driving data can be directly uploaded in real time through the Verisk Data Exchange. The system allows driving data to be analyzed and rated. It allows an insurer to adjust rates to reflect how much of a risk the driver poses.

Numerous factors impact rates

The factors Verisk looks at include: “smooth driving, speed responsibility, driving time of day, consistent driving and time behind the wheel,” Hyundai noted in a press release.

The new insurance program uses a score-based system to establish the rates.

Hyundai owners who sign up for the program can keep an eye on how well they’re doing through the automaker’s Blue Link app. It provides an individual Driving Score ranging from 0 to 100, the higher the number the better. It also offers tips on how to improve their ranking.

“For example, a driver could improve their score by braking smoothly, less late night driving and accelerating gently,” said Hyundai.

More and more motorists opt in

Drivers must opt in to the program to allow their data to be tracked. Verisk claims to have already collected information on 240 billion miles of driving data.

“The Verisk Data Exchange was built to make usage-based insurance easier and more accessible,” said Karthik Balakrishnan, senior vice president and general manager of Verisk’s telematics business. “Hyundai shares this vision and together, we look forward to this new collaboration and its many benefits for consumers as well as auto insurers.”

Hyundai joins a growing list of manufacturers who offer usage-based insurance. Ford last December announced teaming up with insurers including Allstate, Liberty Mutual and State Farm on a similar program. As with Hyundai, the automaker uses built-in telematics technology to gather information on driving behavior and usage.

For owners enrolled in the program, they can get a history of their driving score.

Motorists can directly sign up with insurers like Progressive and Nationwide who tied into a vehicle’s OBDII sensor to collect data.

Privacy concerns

A survey released by Nationwide last December showed growing support for such programs, the company reporting that 35% of new auto business is usage-based. It said it expects that to reach 70% or more over the next five years.

But the Nationwide study also found a majority of those surveyed expressing at least some concerns about the potential impact on privacy.

There are studies suggesting that usage-based programs help reduce the likelihood of a crash by retail vehicle owners. A recent study by Willis Towers Watson found that using telematics to monitor the behavior of commercial vehicle drivers can reduce crash rate by as much as 80%.

An alternative to fuel taxes

With most vehicles expected to come equipped with two-way telematics in the years ahead, experts are studying other opportunities. The technology could provide an alternative to today’s federal and state highway fuel tax system which is based on per-gallon fees. California and several other states have explored the idea of charging a flat, per-mile fee, instead.

That approach could come into play in the years ahead as more and more electric vehicles take to the road since they currently do not directly contribute to highway funding.


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Hyundai Acquires Robotics Firm Boston Dynamics for $1.1 Billion

Hyundai Motor Group spent $1.1 billion to acquire a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics.

In a deal valued at $1.1 billion, Hyundai Motor Group is acquiring a controlling interest in Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group Corp. Hyundai will hold an 80% stake in the company, with SoftBank retaining 20% through an affiliate.

“The synergies created by our union offer exciting new pathways for our companies to realize our goal – providing free and safe movement and higher plane of life experiences for humanity,” said Euisun Chung, Hyundai’s chairman, in a statement.

It is Chung’s first acquisition since taking on Hyundai Motor Group’s top office in October, although his ambitions in the field of robotics is well known. He has already said that he expects robotics to account for 20% of Hyundai’s future business, with urban air mobility accounting for 30%, and traditional auto manufacturing at 50 percent.

(Ford going to the dogs? Canine-like robots Fluffy and Spot go to work.)

The move lessens Hyundai Motor Group’s reliance on car manufacturing by expanding into robotics, which the company has been suggesting it would do for several years. Hyundai introduced wearable exoskeleton robots named Mex, Vex and Cex at CES in 2017 and 2018, with intention of commercialization.

Euisun Chung, who was just inaugurated as Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, orchestrated the deal for Boston Dynamics.

And while Hyundai Robotics is already established in the robotics field, producing wheeled robots used in factories and warehousing, Boston Dynamics produces mobile robots with advanced mobility, dexterity, intelligence, navigation and perception.

The most famous example is “Spot”, a disturbingly lifelike robotic dog that was used in October by New York Police Department at crime scenes. Boston Dynamics also built “Atlas,” a two-legged robot that can jump and do somersaults.

The South Korean automaker plans to use Boston Dynamics’ expertise to expand its presence the humanoid robot market, where the devices could perform services such as caregiving for hospital patients. But the company also believes that robotic technologies can play a crucial role in autonomous driving solutions.

(Toyota’s ready to hoop it up.)

“Boston Dynamics’ commercial business has grown rapidly as we’ve brought to market the first robot that can automate repetitive and dangerous tasks in workplaces,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics.

“We and Hyundai share a view of the transformational power of mobility and look forward to working together

The deal helps diversify Hyundai’s revenue sources while adding technical expertise to its current divisions.

to accelerate our plans to enable the world with cutting edge automation.”

Born out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the early 1990s, Boston Dynamics was bought by Google in 2013. Four years later, it was sold to SoftBank. Under SoftBank, the company has tried to better commercialize its technology. The transaction is expected to close by June of 2021; however, the deal doesn’t mean that Hyundai is the only automaker focusing on robotics.

In May 2019, Ford Motor Co. announced a partnership with Agility Robotics of Oregon to develop a last-mile logistics solution using Ford’s autonomous vehicles and Agility’s two-legged robot, “Digit.” Ford received its first two robots in January.

(Honda’s new robots enhance human capabilities.)

Additionally, Toyota built a 6-foot, 10-inch basketball-shooting robot last year that hit five out of eight from behind the three-point arc and made 75% of its free throws ­— better than NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal’s best year in either category. Honda’s had a long history of producing human-like robots that can dance, kick a soccer ball and even ride a motorcycle.

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U.S. New Car Sales Continue Rebounding – But the Industry Isn’t Yet Out of the Woods

Pickups like the Ford F-150 have been the industry’s heavy haulers during the pandemic lockdown.

Two months after much of the United States began entering lockdown there are clear signs of recovery by the U.S. auto industry – though the American market still could end 2020 down nearly 25% from last year’s levels.

Automakers hoping for a rebound have been flooding the market with hefty incentives, such as 84-month, no-interest loans. But the risk is that these profit-eating givebacks could become “the new normal,” warned a senior analyst with J.D. Power.

After hitting bottom at the end of March, the new car market has now posted five weeks in a row of improving sales, said Power analyst Tyson Jominy, In the latest in a series of weekly briefings on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. For the week ending May 10, sales were off 26%, said Jominy. By comparison, the market was off by nearly half for the full month of April.

“We absolutely could see a step back in the second half” of this year, warns J.D. Power.

As has been the case since most of the country went into lockdown in March, results varied widely from one market to another. Sales in Tampa were down a mere 1% from where they had been expected to come in pre-pandemic. Among major cities, New York remained one of the hardest hit – surprising few since it has been one of the pandemic’s epicenters. But while demand was off by 48% from original forecasts, that was still a big improvement from the week ending May 3, when sales were down 63%.

Detroit was another market in rebound, according to data Power collects directly from dealers using its PIN network. Another epicenter, the Motor City was off by 98% in mid-April but saw demand last week climb to “just” 29% below forecasts made before the pandemic struck.

Inventories are beginning to be stretched, especially for pickups. But manufacturers are only beginning to start production back up.

(Toyota production to be down a third through October.)

On the other hand, Dallas, which was virtually back to normal at the beginning of May saw sales slide to 10% below forecast last week – something that appears to reflect one of the industry’s big concerns, a mounting shortage of inventory, said Tyson, particularly in the segments of the new car market that remained relatively viable during the depths of pandemic downturn, full-size pickup trucks, in particular.

“Inventory will be a big concern,” Jominy warned, until automakers can get factories running anywhere near to normal.

By the end of March, the entire U.S. automotive manufacturing network was idled. Only a small handful of plants have now come back online, starting late last week with those run by Hyundai, Kia and Mercedes-Benz. Several more manufacturers, including Honda, Tesla and Toyota, fired up this week, and Detroit’s Big Three, General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, are planning to relaunch operations on the 18th.

(GM sees no COVID cases at plants worldwide, wants production back to normal by mid-June.)

But production schedules are expected to be limited for at least a month, in part, to get everyone used to the many steps taken to reduce the risk of new outbreaks of COVID-19 within those plants. So, if anything, “It’s going to be very disruptive” from an inventory standpoint, said Thomas King, Power’s chief data officer.

Inventory issues will vary by product segment and region of the country. Motorists in southern states, such as Texas, could find pickup pickings grow slim in the coming weeks. But there remains a glut of sedans and other passenger cars that were already selling slowly ahead of the pandemic.

Dealers have been racing to adapt to new ways of doing business, such as online sales, during the pandemic.

Expect to see manufacturers rethink some of the hefty incentives they began offering as the pandemic struck. They’re already trimming back the typical giveback by about $300, according to Power data, especially on big trucks. But buyers still will find some of the most lavish deals ever, incentives still averaging $4,700 a vehicle. By comparison, the figure was around $4,100 in January.

The industry has been expanding the availability of low and no-interest loans – and not just on new vehicles but also on “nearly new” Certified Pre-Owned models. During the most recent week, fully 17% of new vehicle buyers went with 84-month, zero-interest loans, double the rate at the beginning of the year.

The problem is that every $1,000 of incentives adds up to a $1 billion cut in industry profits, noted King who warned that, “The longer these programs remain in the market the greater the risk they become the new normal,” consumers holding back when these deals are withdrawn.

(Nissan looking at nearly $3B in spending cuts as its balance sheet crumbles.)

The industry may have no choice but to keep up the level of incentives. With so many variables and unknowns, Power officials warned that it is difficult to make clear forecasts for year ahead. At best, it will likely be mid to late summer before demand returns to pre-pandemic trend lines and the full year could see sales slip as low as 13 million, down from 17.1 million in 2019.

That doesn’t even account for the widely feared prospect of another major outbreak of the coronavirus late this year, or an even bigger slide in the economy. If any of a number of troubling scenarios play out, said King, “We absolutely could see a step back in the second half” of this year.