Hyundai Motor India recently announced that it will invest 450 billion rupees (approximately 38.7 billion yuan) by the fiscal year 2030, aiming to establish India as its second-largest global market. This investment plan includes the launch of 26 new products, with a focus on electric vehicles (EVs) and luxury cars. Analysts at Jeenoce believe this move not only reflects Hyundai's recognition of India's market potential but also reveals a core trend in the automotive industry's technological transformation—automotive "electronic content" is becoming the key determinant of future competitiveness.
In the era of traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, a car's value was primarily defined by its "big three" components: engine, transmission, and chassis. However, as the wave of electrification and intelligentization sweeps in, this landscape is being completely upended.
Industry analysis shows that the latest car models use an average of approximately 3,000 chips, and this number is growing rapidly in electric and autonomous vehicles.
Hyundai's heavy investment in EVs and luxury cars stems from its recognition of the "multiplier effect" of electronic content in these two vehicle categories.
The electronic cost of EVs can account for 30%-50% of the total vehicle cost, far higher than the 15%-20% in traditional ICE vehicles. Luxury cars, meanwhile, require a greater quantity and higher quality of electronic components due to their advanced intelligent cockpits and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
As the foundation for vehicles to perceive their environment, sensors are experiencing simultaneous growth in both demand and value amid electrification and intelligentization trends.
From basic temperature and pressure sensors to radar, LiDAR, and cameras in ADAS, the number of sensors in modern vehicles is growing exponentially.
In particular, as autonomous driving levels advance, the number of in-vehicle sensors increases and their types become more diverse.
This shift not only drives the prosperity of the sensor market but also raises higher requirements for sensor accuracy, reliability, and durability. In the luxury car segment, the integration of new sensors for passenger monitoring and gesture recognition further boosts the overall "electronic content" of vehicles.
The electrical and electronic (E/E) architecture of EVs and luxury cars is evolving from distributed to centralized. The emergence of domain controllers not only reduces the number of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) but also significantly enhances data processing capabilities.
Hyundai Motor Group is transforming into an advanced software-defined vehicle manufacturer, a shift that elevates the strategic importance of the vehicle's core controllers.
In the era of software-defined vehicles, controller performance directly determines a vehicle's upgrade potential and functional expandability. Without the support of an advanced controller architecture, Hyundai's plan to launch 26 new products through this investment would struggle to achieve economies of scale.
Among the three core components, power semiconductors have undergone the most significant changes. Traditional ICE vehicles only use a small number of power semiconductors, mainly for motor control and power management.
In EVs, however, power semiconductors directly determine the vehicle's energy efficiency and performance—especially its range, a core performance indicator.
Hyundai Mobis has partnered with a Swedish research institute to jointly develop silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors. This technological move indicates that Hyundai Motor Group is actively 布局 (laying out) next-generation power semiconductor technology.
SiC devices can increase EV range by 5%-10% and double charging speed, making them particularly popular in the luxury EV market.
Hyundai's investment plan will have a significant driving effect on the automotive electronics manufacturing industry chain.
According to the white paper "New Landscape Behind the 'Shift and Acceleration' of the Global Automotive Semiconductor Market 2025" released by Yole Group, the automotive semiconductor market is undergoing a "structural redistribution."
Electrification, intelligentization, and digitalization are truly reshaping the supply chain hierarchy, technological paths, and corporate competitiveness.
The chip industry is among the first to benefit. Hyundai Mobis has announced plans to mass-produce a variety of in-vehicle chips for electrification, in-vehicle lighting, and other automotive components.
The company's semiconductor division employs approximately 300 researchers and plans to establish a dedicated overseas semiconductor R&D center in Silicon Valley, USA—demonstrating its firm commitment to chip research and development.
The manufacturing sector also faces new challenges and opportunities. As automotive electronic content increases, electronic manufacturing processes must adapt to the automotive industry's stringent requirements for reliability and consistency.
An electronic manufacturing solutions provider noted: "Automotive electronics differ from consumer electronics; their requirements for process precision and quality stability are nearly an order of magnitude more stringent. This means manufacturers must invest more in SMT (Surface Mount Technology) processes, automated testing, and full-process quality traceability."
The rise in automotive electronic content is triggering a reorganization of supply chain power. Yole's white paper points out that the automotive supply chain is transitioning from the traditional Tier-1-led model to a "chip-OEM direct connection" model, with software and computing power becoming the core of new dominance.
This shift is particularly evident in the EV and luxury car segments.
To address this transformation, Hyundai Motor Group has adopted a two-track strategy. On one hand, it is strengthening its independent R&D capabilities for core chips through Hyundai Mobis. On the other hand, it is expanding R&D cooperation with overseas technology companies to build a more advanced in-vehicle chip ecosystem.
Against this backdrop, China's automotive electronics supply chain is also seizing new opportunities.
According to Yole's report, the progress of Chinese companies in the chip sector is obvious—domestic substitution of LiDAR, MCUs (Microcontroller Units), and SoCs (System on Chips) is being implemented.
Huawei's MDC (Mobile Data Center) and Horizon Robotics' chips have achieved breakthroughs in vehicle integration, demonstrating the progress of Chinese companies in the automotive electronics field.
As automotive electronic content continues to increase, industry competition is shifting from hardware performance to software ecosystems and system integration capabilities.
Park Chul-hong, Senior Vice President of the Semiconductor Division at Hyundai Mobis, stated: "We will expand R&D cooperation with overseas technology companies to build a more advanced in-vehicle chip ecosystem."
Future automotive competition will no longer be purely about powertrain performance or luxury configurations, but about the overall electronic architecture and software ecosystem.
Hyundai's 450 billion rupee investment may seem targeted at the Indian market on the surface, but in essence, it is stockpiling resources for the "electronic content" race in the global automotive industry.
The quantity and value of electronic components have become a new yardstick for measuring automotive product strength. Hyundai Mobis, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, has established a dedicated overseas semiconductor R&D center in Silicon Valley, USA, and is expanding R&D cooperation with overseas technology companies to build a more advanced in-vehicle chip ecosystem.
For companies in the automotive electronics industry chain, their ability to keep up with this technological transformation will determine their position in the global automotive market over the next decade.
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