Positioned as one of the ‘Big 3’ global automakers… Expanding domestic and international strategic investment and big tech collaboration
There are also many tasks such as strengthening labor-management cooperation and commercializing physical AI.
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Ha-na = Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun celebrates his 6th anniversary in office on the 14th.
Chairman Chung is evaluated as transforming Hyundai Motor Group into a global top-tier company by strengthening the competitiveness of electric vehicles and improving the company's structure with a focus on profitability, even in an unfavorable external environment, while expanding its scope to autonomous driving and robotics.
However, strengthening the foundation for labor-management cooperation in line with the industrial transition period and connecting the vision of transforming into a physical artificial intelligence (AI) solution company into actual business results are tasks that Chairman Chung must solve in the future.
◇ Global ‘Big 3’ leap forward… “Transformation into a physical AI solution company”
According to the industry on the 11th, Hyundai Motor Group, which had been ranked 5th all year round, was ranked as the 3rd largest automobile group in sales worldwide following Toyota Group and Volkswagen Group in 2022 after Chairman Chung took office, and maintained its status as a 'Big 3' for 4 consecutive years until last year.
Last year, the combined annual sales of Hyundai Motors and Kia exceeded 300 trillion won for the first time in history, and their annual operating profit surpassed Volkswagen Group for the first time.
It appears that the strategy to expand the electrification base, including the introduction of E-GMP, a dedicated platform for electric vehicles, actively led by Chairman Chung, was effective.
Last year, Hyundai Motor Group's eco-friendly car sales amounted to approximately 1.76 million units, and it is close to reaching the 10 million eco-friendly car cumulative sales record.
In the first half of this year, Hyundai's global hybrid vehicle sales increased 18% compared to the same period last year to 363,000 units, and Kia's increased 47% to 316,000 units, proving the effectiveness of its diversified electrification strategy.
The sales and profit structure was also advanced by expanding the proportion of high value-added vehicles, especially Genesis and sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
In particular, Genesis, which Chairman Chung has led with affection from the beginning of the brand's launch, continues to grow, surpassing 1.5 million units in cumulative global sales in January of this year.
Meanwhile, Chairman Chung said at the San Francisco AI Summit in July, "Hyundai Motor Group is pushing for the transformation into a physical AI solution company by expanding beyond the boundaries of traditional automobile manufacturing to autonomous driving, robotics, and AI factories."
This can be interpreted as embodying the company's will to evolve into a future technology company centered on robotics and AI based on the global competitiveness it has built since taking office.
◇ Expansion of domestic and overseas strategic investments… Strengthening collaboration with big tech
We are also actively expanding strategic investments at home and abroad.
Hyundai Motor Group announced its largest investment plan ever, investing a total of 125.2 trillion won in Korea over the next five years starting this year. The plan is to preemptively respond to industrial paradigm shifts by expanding investment in research and development and future businesses such as AI, software-driven vehicles (SDV), robotics, and hydrogen.
A representative example is Saemangeum AI Valley. Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest 9 trillion won by 2029 to build a core growth base encompassing robots, AI, and hydrogen energy in Saemangeum.
In the United States, we are upgrading our local business system through strategic investments worth $26 billion.
Last month, with Chairman Chung in attendance, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for Hyundai Steel's Louisiana Electric Furnace Steel Plant (HPLS), and the company began building a local automobile manufacturing ecosystem spanning from steel to parts and finished vehicles.
Hyundai Motor Group's Metaplant America in Georgia, USA, is demonstrating a future manufacturing system by combining AI, robots, and automation technologies.
In 2020, it established Motional to secure autonomous driving technology, and acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021 to begin its robotics business. Starting in 2022, we are accelerating the development and commercialization of vehicle software technology in all areas of SDV and autonomous driving through 42dot.
We are also expanding strategic collaboration with global big tech companies such as NVIDIA and Waymo.
In addition, he is working to expand the hydrogen ecosystem by leading global hydrogen industry cooperation as co-chair of the Hydrogen Committee.
◇ There are also many tasks such as strengthening labor-management cooperation and commercializing physical AI.
Chairman Chung has worked hard to establish a horizontal organizational culture by communicating with executives and employees through town hall meetings. We are promoting digital transformation (DX) and AI transformation (AX) at the company level and are also promoting innovation in the way we work.
However, establishing a flexible labor-management cooperation system appropriate for the industrial transition period still remains a task.
The Hyundai Motors union went on a full-scale strike for the first time in 10 years since collective bargaining in 2016 due to difficulties in wage negotiations this year. Hyundai Motor Company's cumulative sales disruption due to this year's strike is estimated to exceed 2.3 trillion won.
As the industrial paradigm shift centered on AI and robotics accelerates and innovation is required across production sites and organizational operations, labor-management cooperation is emerging as an important topic for securing future competitiveness.
We must secure future competitiveness through internalization of technology and at the same time prepare for changes in the trade environment by expanding global production bases and localizing each region.
One of the key tasks is to realize the vision of ‘Physical AI solution company’ through concrete business results.
As the competitive axis of the AI industry is shifting from technology development to commercialization and securing profitability, it is time for physical AI to also prove itself with visible results.
An industry official said, "In the era of physical AI, not only rapid technological innovation, but also stable labor-management cooperation and organizational execution capabilities will become important factors that will determine future competitiveness." He added, "Realizing a new industrial paradigm that leads the physical AI era will be an important task in the future."
