According to Car and DriverKIA and Hyundai occupy privileged positions in the top of the best-selling cars in Spain. Proposals like the Hyundai Tucson or the KIA Sportage are sweeping sales, two proposals from different brands, but from the same family. Although they are independent companies, they are part of the same automotive conglomerate, and many of the decisions made affect them in a shared way.
One of them will benefit all users who have a KIA or Hyundai with integrated maps: both will have the Google Maps database in not too long.
A new API. Currently, KIA and Hyundai use first-party data to provide navigation information. Although the precision may be correct, the Google Maps API is one of the most powerful in the world, since the volume of data it allows access to is much greater.
Hyundai Motor Group has announced that drivers of new Hyundai, Kia and Genesis will “soon” have access to updated information from Google Maps. Likewise, it suggests that Android Automotive integration, the native operating system that does not depend on your mobile phone, will be present in its cars.
These plans to integrate Automotive are dated for 2026, but full integration with Google Maps should arrive sooner.
Not everything is so pretty. The association has fine print, and that is that the Google Maps database will be integrated, but not completely. This integration will be done with the Places API, so KIA vehicles will have access to information about business hours, contact, reviews and other data about places of interest.
In other words, they will have a combination of KIA maps with Google Maps information, not a full integration of the Maps interface within KIA vehicles.
In vehicles with Android Automotive the matter is different: this system does allow Maps to be run natively, practically the same application that we enjoy on our mobile.
They are not the only ones. More and more manufacturers trust Google to integrate their APIs into their native interfaces. BYD is one of them, integrating into models like the Sealion 7 Maps information.
In the case of KIA, this novelty will begin to arrive first in the United States, confirming that it will spread globally later.