Hyundai Mobis on Wednesday pledged to become one of the top five auto parts makers worldwide by 2015, announcing a new investment plan worth 1.8 trillion won ($1.7 billion) over the next two years for research and development. 

The auto parts maker, affiliated with Hyundai Motor, said it would pour considerable resources into developing automotive electronics systems to be used for smarter cars and self-driving vehicles.

The No. 8 auto parts company globally logs about 26 trillion won in automotive sales annually, of which the electronics business makes up 3 trillion won. It said it aims to elevate the portion to 20 percent by 2020.

“Global carmakers and suppliers predict stunning growth in auto parts for smart vehicles, including self-driving cars, in the future,” said Chae Kwi-han, vice president of the company’s mechatronics R&D center.

“We are expecting to gain synergy in partnership with the software developer Autron (another Hyundai Motor affiliate) in the area.”

Global carmakers such as Daimler and Nissan have already joined the race to develop futuristic self-driving cars, with commercialized models predicted to hit the market as early as 2020.

Mobis also recently completed a new R&D building dedicated to developing next-generation auto components, especially for electronic applications and environment-friendly vehicles such as hybrids and electric cars.

The company invested 60 billion won into the new four-story building on a 40,000 square-meter site within the company’s R&D complex in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.

Together with the expansion of its R&D facilities, the company plans to increase the number of researchers from the current 1,800 to 2,300 by 2015.

The Korean R&D center currently oversees the company’s four global research centers in the U.S., Europe, India and China.

Apart from Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors, Mobis supplies its auto parts to global carmakers such as Chrysler, GM, Volkswagen and BMW.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)