(Yicai Global) March 14 -- A car parts unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group is making its first investment in a foreign startup and it has chosen Beijing's smart surveillance firm DeepGlint Technology. 

Hyundai Mobis will invest KRW5.5 billion (USD4.9 million) in DeepGlint which will develop a new connected vehicle platform which can identify drivers' needs fast and accurately, the Soul-based firm said in a statement. 

Hyundai Mobis needs to cooperate with more firms to cope with new challenges posed by the trends of autonomous driving and vehicle-to-vehicle communication, Senior Executive Chung Soo-kyung told Yicai Global in an interview. DeepGlint has leading technologies and experience in combining facial recognition and driving systems, she added. 

Hyundai Motor, another unit of the car giant, has also started collaborating with DeepGlint on connected vehicles, Chung added. 

Hyundai Motor Group will invest KRW45 trillion (USD39.7 billion) in research and development of new cars and mobility technologies in the next five years, the firm said in a conference in Seoul last month. 

Editor: Emmi Laine