HL Klemove, a company specializing in autonomous driving, was officially launched on December 2, 2021. Mando Mobility Solutions (MMS) was split off from Mando Corp. and merged into HL Klemove. Under the leadership of its first CEO Paljoo Yoon, the company will open the era of full autonomous driving as a leading company in the field of autonomous driving and mobility.
HL Klemove proclaimed that it will deliver the safest full autonomous driving solution to popularize autonomous driving. It is preparing for another leap forward by focusing on developing cutting-edge autonomous driving solutions, based on its track record of more than 2,000 patents for its autonomous driving technologies and supplying more than 20 million units of ADAS to diverse customers. It announced that it will complete commercialization of core autonomous driving products, including Lidar, 4D imaging radar, high-resolution camera, in-cabin sensor, and integrated domain control unit by 2025 and ambitiously pursue business expansion to achieve sales of 1.2 trillion won in 2021, 2.4 trillion won in 2026, and as much as 4 trillion won in 2030.
HL Klemove obtained a patent for its Mechanical Lidar and completed advanced development. Currently, it is working on developing High Resolution Solid State Lidar with competitive price, packaging, and durability to lead global Lidar market going forward. The development project is being conducted in collaboration with various startups with commercialization targeted in 2025.
4D imaging radar is a high-tech, high-resolution sensor that can precisely recognize the environment surrounding a vehicle by processing four-dimensional (distance, speed, angle, height) Point Cloud space images based on sdeep learning technology. HL Klemove is accelerating its efforts to complete the development of 4D imaging radar by 2024 on the strength of ultra-range (over 300 meters) detection antenna technology and transmission/reception channel expansion technology featuring high-precision resolution. HL Klemove’s advanced sensors including Lidar, 4D imaging radars, etc. are expected to be also utilized in smart cities, robots, and other sectors in addition to autonomous driving. High-performance autonomous driving control unit (ADCU) for level 3 will be launched next year. HL Klemove is focusing on developing a scalable DCU that can cover levels 2~4 autonomous driving by 2024.
HL Klemove’s perception and decision technology for autonomous driving and Mando’s chassis control technology are creating synergy to present the safest autonomous driving solution to the market. HL Klemove’s differentiation comes from its track record of mass production for leading EVs and global automotive OEMs, and its integrated system solution design. Based on its technology and business competency, HL Klemove is expected to meet various mobility design needs of automotive OEMs with its electric vehicle-based autonomous driving solution (refer to the ‘Model K’ of Figure 1).
HL Klemove is especially having its eye on the North American market. For North American clients who are demanding above level 3 autonomous driving, the company is proposing high-performance autonomous driving solution based on strategic partnerships with global application processors/software companies and at the same time, pursuing production localization in the region. Construction of North American manufacturing footprint will start next year. As for the Chinese market, the company plans to expand its market share through joint marketing drives with cutting-edge electric control chassis products of Mando Corp., which successfully established itself in the market. In line with this, HL Klemove will expand manufacturing capacity of its Chinese plant in Suzhou and recruit more than 100 local R&D personnel. In India, it plans to preoccupy the budding market with development of customized level 2+ products for a local market by reinforcing R&D personnel in Bangalore.
Paljoo Yoon, the CEO of HL Klemove, has an engineering background of successful commercialization of mainstream ADAS products like automotive radars for the first time in Korea. Previously serving as Head of the electric/electronic product design team of Mando R&D Center, head of the system research center, and head of the global ADAS business unit, the expert in autonomous driving raised Korean autonomous driving technologies up to a global level.
In his inauguration speech, the CEO stated that “the convergence of HL Klemove’s perception and decision technologies for autonomous driving and Mando’s autonomous driving control and EV solution technologies resulted in differentiated autonomous driving technology knowhow of HL Klemove. He added that “HL Klemove will fast forward the era of full autonomous driving to secure ‘the safest mobility’ for the public.”
HL Klemove operates Global R&D Center in Pangyo, Gyeonggido. It also has autonomous driving products manufacturing bases and R&D centers in Songdo, Incheon and overseas including Suzhou in China and Chennai/Bangalore in India. The company currently has about 1,800 employees, and will move in new building ‘Next M’ located beside Mando Corp. in Pangyo in September 2022.
