Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s biggest car maker, will build its first offshore big data center in China in a move to accelerate its development of connected car technology, the company said Wednesday.

According to Hyundai Motor on Wednesday, the automaker signed a memorandum of understanding with Guizhou’s provincial government on Tuesday (local time) in China to build a big data center at the heart of the Guian New Area in Guizhou Province in China, with an aim to kick off its operation in June 2017.

Chung Eui-sun, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor, said the addition of a big data center in the “strategically-important part of China” could help expedite the Hyundai Motor’s efforts to develop connected car technologies. He hoped the new center help foster the growth of Hyundai Motor business in Chinese market.

The new big data center in China will analyze connected car data in collaboration with Hyundai Motor’s domestic big data center in Uiwang, Korea. With data analyzed in both centers, Hyundai Motor will provide a wide array of connected car services that are tailored to the needs of Chinese drivers.

After big data has emerged as a crucial factor in developing connected car technologies that will enable fully self-driving cars, global finished car makers have been competitively increasing investment in gathering and analyzing big data.

Located in the Guian New Area - China’s focal point on information and communications technology - Hyundai Motor’s new facility will deliver a competitive advantage over rivals through close collaboration with the region’s IT enterprises and start-up companies starting June 2017.

The Korean car maker plans to add big data centers in its other foreign key markets to gather and analyze local vehicle and transportation information, as well as social media data that will be used in developing connected cars that are differently customized to drivers based on regions.

By Lee Seung-hoon

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