Infineon and Hyundai Motor said today they have completed a joint design center in Korea for car electronics development, which struck me as odd. First, Infineon makes semiconductors and not electronic systems that go into cars--it was spun off from Siemens a while ago, which is an automotive electronics supplier among other things. Hyundai, of course, makes cars. Chipmakers usually interface with the likes of Siemens, Delphi and others and not the carmakers.
It seems, though, that Hyundai will do a lot of its own electronic systems design work, with Infineon's chips. The electronics systems to be developed include light modules, HVAC
(heating, ventilating and air conditioning) and door modules to show up in
Hyundai and Kia cars starting by 2010.
I suppose that the really high-end stuff, like motion sensors, driving controls, and more state-of-the-art electronics will come from other third-parties.
