President Park Jeong-kook of Hyundai Mobis Co.

Hyundai Mobis posted 1.13 trillion won of net profit in the first half of this year, up 11 percent from the same period a year ago, 1.12 trillion won in operating profit, up 14.3 percent, and 18.2 trillion won in sales, up 6.6 percent during the same period.

Hyundai Mobis’ solid earnings for the April-June period come on the back of brisk sales of modules and core component parts. The company attributed its strong earnings to high demand for core component parts such as electrification parts and advanced multi-media products amid growing demand for electric vehicles.

The weak won against the U.S. dollar also helped the company gain in operating profit.

Hyundai Mobis said in a regulatory filing on July 17 that its operating profit on a consolidated basis reached 627.2 billion won ($532.2 million) in the April-June period, up 27 percent from the previous three-month period and 18.1 percent from the same period a year ago.

Its module and core parts manufacturing business rose 7.6 trillion won in sales in the second quarter, up 5.2 percent from the same period last year. Sales of electrification component parts soared 82.2 percent to 659.6 billion won.

Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts making unit of Hyundai Motor Group, unveiled its test bed for autonomous vehicles and auto parts in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, with a mission to develop self-driving car sensors by 2020.

Its long-term goal is to lead the future mobility market, and raise some 11 trillion won ($10 billion) in earnings through automated driving technology by 2025, according to the firm.

To accomplish its goals, Hyundai Mobis is aiming to mass produce five radar sensors with two German companies from 2021.

Hyundai Mobis is currently developing two entry-level radars with Germany’s Smart Microwave Sensors, and an ultrahigh frequency radar with a range of over 250 meters with another German company ASTYX.

“Hyundai Mobis’ technology using ultrasonic sensors and vehicle-to-everything is at a notable level. We now have LiDAR (light imaging detection and ranging) and camera sensors technologies to develop, which we anticipate to obtain in line with the explosive growth in the market.” said Hwang Jae-ho, director of Mobis’ DAS engineering group.

Mobis will strive for a “quantum leap” in its sensor technologies using deep learning and artificial intelligence, as the auto industry faces the task of developing sensors that accurately comprehend digital signals that contain information about the surrounding environment, Hwang added.

Hyundai Mobis Co., South Korea's biggest auto parts maker, said recently that it will invest 380 billion won ($322 million) to build an EV parts plant in the country.

The company already operates an electric vehicle parts plant in Chungju, 150 kilometers south of Seoul. The second EV parts facility will be built near the southwestern city of Ulsan where Hyundai Motor Co. runs its main plant.

“The expansion is part of Hyundai Motor Group’s broader plan to produce 40,000 hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles by 2022 and 500,000 hydrogen cars by 2030, up from 3,000 at the end of last year.” he said.

A view of Hyundai Mobis Plant in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province. (Photos: Hyundai Mobis)