Hyundai’s ‘Smart’ Strategy Aims to Solve Problems, Improve UX

Connectivity has become an essential part of the auto industry, but it’s about more than smartphone interactions. Hyundai believes the technology can be used to solve real-world problems.

Its latest move in that direction, announced earlier this month, is a partnership with Amazon that puts the online retailer’s home digital assistant to work managing functions in its Genesis lineup of luxury vehicles.

Alexa, a virtual assistant linked to Amazon’s Echo speakers that can answer spoken questions, now will be able to perform such tasks as set the car’s interior temperature, lock the doors, flash the lights, honk the horn or turn off a running engine on command.

“It really comes down to making sure (technology) adds value and that it’s not a distraction, it’s something that actually helps,” Mark Dipko, director-corporate strategy at Hyundai Motor America, says of the efforts toward connectivity.

“We typically don’t go for just the things that are cool. We want to make sure there’s something there that adds value to the experience and that it doesn’t take away from it or, obviously, cause safety concerns.”

Hyundai has been aggressive in pushing connectivity. It was among the first to support smartwatches and Google Glass, Dipko points out, and continues to keep a close eye on emerging technologies.

“All of our remote functions on our telematics, we really try to push in those areas,” he notes. “Smart home is a natural progression of that.”

Dipko is particularly intrigued by the “seamless connectivity” that can occur between the home and car, allowing consumers to start something at home (such as an audio book or a podcast) and quickly transfer it to an automobile before heading to work.

“We think it’s a really big area for us to start to get into,” he says.

Today’s use cases may be simple, but Hyundai is exploring additional home-connectivity features.

“There’s really a lot you can do when you think about the car being connected and integrated with the house,” Dipko says. “It’s really about being contextually aware. Now that you’re home and you know where the vehicle is and what you’re doing, you’re tying all that together.”

Dipko isn’t ready to reveal specific plans, but he says “the sky’s the limit” for home-to-vehicle connectivity.

But don’t expect Hyundai to venture outside the realm of automobiles.

“I don’t think we would do anything that wasn’t somehow related to the vehicle, but there’s a lot of things that you would do in the home more naturally than you would do in your car,” Dipko says. “It’s all about your car and your mobility in a seamless manner.

“Would we get into a Hyundai home-lighting system? Probably not unless there was something that made sense with the vehicle.”

In building smart-home applications, Dipko wants to avoid the pitfalls that could lead to distracted driving.

“It always boils down to convenience and safety,” he says. “I like things that are really simple, where you could configure it (to) automatically do something based on, say, a geofence or voice commands.”

One application, for example, could activate a coffee maker while the consumer is driving home.

“Those are conveniences,” Dipko says. “There’s also security. How many times did you think, ‘Did I lock the front door? Did I close the garage door?’ Sometimes just the simple things of knowing the house is locked, everything’s safe, everything’s turned off.”

Dipko expects smart-home connectivity to start in that realm before branching out into more complex areas.

“Maybe something that’s more logic-based – ‘if this, then check that,’” he says. “And make sure that the garage door is open when you do a remote car start so you don’t have any (carbon monoxide). The (carbon-dioxide) sensor would be able to shut the car off.”

Smart technology is significant, but it’s only one part of Hyundai’s strategy. The automaker also is working hard to ensure its vehicles are safe from hackers.

“We have security by design, so it’s not an afterthought,” says Ayaz Kassam, Hyundai Motor America senior manager-connected car. “We have a team out in Korea (and) that’s what they do. They do threat analysis, they look at all the attack surfaces and they do mitigation strategies. We have multiple areas that we look at very carefully.”

Hyundai has no known cybersecurity issues at the moment, Kassam says, but is constantly monitoring the infrastructure as well as the application layer to check for threats.

“We have further segregated control systems within our vehicle architecture so that even if you do get access to the modular control, it is not available or accessible,” he says.

Dipko concurs, noting some things have to be scrutinized more than others.

“(And) every time you open something else up, you really have to make sure it’s done in a way that’s not going to lead to some other vulnerability.”