Samsung To Venture Into Self-Driving Cars With New Division, Team

There’s a new big player in the self-driving car business. 

On Wednesday, South Korean giant Samsung Electronics confirmed that it is setting up a new division whose focus is to develop technology such as components that will allow driverless cars. CNBC said that the team it will be forming for this new division will be developing infotainment systems and autonomous driving technology. The company did not discuss how big the new division would be. Bloomberg wrote that the new team will be helmed by Samsung executive vice president Park Jong Hwan.

Endgadget said that Samsung’s latest venture is not the first for the company. Samsung did made cars in the 90s and launched a division called Samsung Motors in 1994. By the time it had started manufacturing vehicles, Samsung was forced to sell the division due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The division was sold to Renault, with Samsung keeping a 19.9 percent stake and control over the use of its name in the division.