Kakao Mobility and Kia announced on May 12 that they will cooperate to develop and commercialize a dedicated purpose-built vehicle (PBV) optimized for car-hailing, as well as a linked platform service.

This agreement is the first case in Korea where a mobility platform cooperates with a complete vehicle manufacturer to develop a dedicated car-hailing vehicle from the development stage, focusing on vehicle software and data. The two companies aim to provide personalized mobility solutions and establish a standard model for eco-friendly car-hailing that can lead the domestic mobility service market through strategic cooperation.

Kakao Mobility will play a role in proposing requirements for vehicles and specialized specifications required for PBV development based on data and know-how accumulated through years of operation of the car-hailing platform service. Kia plans to reflect these requirements in the mid-size dedicated PBV model scheduled to be released in 2025.

In addition, the two companies plan to develop user-tailored services, such as installing IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) that can use Kakao T driver app, navigation, parking, and charging services in the vehicle, and planning specialized services that link vehicle data and mobility platform data. Kakao Mobility expects to provide users with a new mobility service experience through this.

In the future, the two companies plan to ▲create a successful collaboration case in the domestic mobility market by connecting vehicle operation and status data with the mobility platform, ▲expand cooperation to various business areas such as transportation for the disabled, logistics, and rental car based on this, ▲and promote global expansion based on global capabilities.

Ryu Gung-sun, CEO of Kakao Mobility, said, “We plan to create a practical collaboration model that can be applied directly to the PBV to be released by Kia based on the various mobility mobility data that Kakao Mobility has. We expect to be able to expand our business to not only domestic but also overseas based on the capabilities of both companies.”