South Korean chipmaker LX Semicon has begun mass production of a microcontroller for Hyundai Motor and Kia.
The chip marks the company's “first” commercial product from its automotive motor control microcontroller unit (MCU) business.
It was also described as the “first” domestically produced MCU to be used in Hyundai Motor and Kia vehicles.
The LX61101 is intended for motor control within automotive body electronics, allowing "real-time motor control by monitoring speed, position, rotational direction, and torque”.
It runs on a 40 MHz ARM Cortex-M3 core and is deployed in automotive window safety systems that reverse direction when an object is detected during closing, as well as in systems that control automotive aerodynamics.
The MCU will be fitted to vehicles that Hyundai Motor and Kia plan to build from the second half of this year, with its use set to expand to additional models afterwards.
LX Semicon was named a supplier for a motor-specific MCU through a selection process run by Hyundai Motor and Kia in March 2023, and it received a supplier award the following month.
Mass production came after three years of development and quality testing.
The chip was designed and manufactured entirely through a domestic supply chain, spanning design, foundry production and back-end processing, the group said.
LX Semicon has traditionally concentrated on display driver integrated circuits and has been working on automotive MCUs since 2022 as part of a wider push to diversify its business.
“As part of our long-term strategy to cultivate the automotive MCU sector, we will broaden our product portfolio from control MCUs to communication, drive, sensor, and power MCUs” an LX Semicon official said.
“LX Semicon will pursue new growth opportunities in automotive semiconductors and strengthen our collaboration with domestic automakers and the semiconductor industry.”
Separately, Hyundai Motor said last month that it had opened a new “UX Studio Shanghai” user experience research hub, intended to deepen the company's “engagement with China's fast-evolving smart mobility market and translate emerging user insights into global innovation”.
