Hyundai bets $6 billion on autonomous cars by 2022

Hyundai Motor Group has announced it has formed a 50:50 partnership with Aptiv that will give birth to fully driverless vehicles by 2022 in a deal said to be worth more than $4 billion ($A5.9b).

Aptiv, which used to be called Delphi Automotive, is said to be well on the way to developing autonomous vehicle tech, with more than 700 employees already dedicated to the cause. But thanks to Hyundai's involvement, a new driverless vehicle will begin testing as soon as next year.

Under the agreement, both companies have stated they will "have a production-ready autonomous driving platform available for robotaxi providers, fleet operators and automotive manufacturers in 2022."

As part of the arrangement, Hyundai Motor Group says it will contribute $US1.6 billion in cash ($A2.4b) and $US400 million ($A590m) in vehicle engineering services.

Crucially, the Korean car-maker says that Aptiv will also be granted access to Hyundai and Kia's R&D resources and intellectual property, helping fast-track the co-creation of a real production car.

Aptiv has made a name for itself in the driverless car world by establishing a fully-autonomous fleet of 100 vehicles in Las Vegas.

Claimed to have already provided more than 70,000 paid autonomous rides, its self-driving taxis have managed to maintain an overall rating of 4.95 out of five stars.

At the beginning of this year, Hyundai revealed a new concept (pictured) for a self-driving vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. It's thought such a vehicle could preview the basis of a driverless robotaxi.