[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Mobis said on Jan. 22 it is targeting US$2.1 billion worth of orders this year on growing demand for next-generation vehicle components.

The order target is 20 percent higher than a record US$1.7 billion Hyundai Mobis bagged last year, the company said in a statement.

“This year, we will further increase overseas orders for value-added auto components involving autonomous driving and connected cars,” Senior Vice President Jeoung Jeoung-hwan, in charge of the auto parts sales division at Hyundai Mobis, said in the statement.

In 2018, electric carmakers in the United States, Europe and China signed more contracts with the Korean parts maker to receive high-end auto parts based on future vehicle technologies, it said.

High-end auto parts include a next-generation 79 gigahertz dual band radar, which improves an autonomous vehicle‘s sensing capability on the road, the company said.

To strengthen its presence in the global future-vehicle parts markets, the company said it will spend half of its research and development budget to secure autonomous driving and connectivity technologies.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)