Jeong Eui-sun Marks 6 Years in Office as Hyundai Motor Group Accelerates Autonomous Driving and Robotics Businesses

As Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Jeong Eui-sun marked the 6th anniversary of his inauguration on the 14th, Hyundai Motor Group is expanding its physical AI business centered on autonomous driving and robotics. The group is using auto factories for robot training and verification, while also feeding vehicle driving data into AI development.

To that end, Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing the establishment of an AIDC in Saemangeum, as well as the establishment of robotics production infrastructure and hydrogen infrastructure. Chairman Jeong is nurturing its robotics and software businesses through Boston Dynamics and 42dot.

Hyundai Motor Group is also expanding cooperation with Nvidia, Waymo and Google DeepMind. These collaborative technologies are being applied to vehicles and to production sites.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to expand the scope of AI applications from vehicles and robots to factories and cities. To do so, it will use data secured from manufacturing, logistics and transportation sites for AI training, and then reflect improved models in products and services.

The investment foundation is the performance of its auto business. Hyundai Motor and Kia sold about 7.27 million vehicles in the global market last year. Since 2022, Hyundai Motor and Kia have maintained their position as the world's No. 3 automaker group by sales for 4 consecutive years.

Hyundai Motor Group has been securing investment resources based on sales and results accumulated in its auto business. Last year, Hyundai Motor and Kia posted combined sales of KRW 300.3954 trillion, marking the first time the figure exceeded KRW 300 trillion.

Combined operating profit for the two companies last year was KRW 20.546 trillion. Hyundai Motor Group expanded its lineup of E-GMP-based electric vehicles. It also expanded hybrid supply in response to demand changes.

Higher sales of high-value-added models such as Genesis and SUVs supported results. Thanks to the increase in sales of these high-value-added models, Hyundai Motor Group surpassed KRW 300 trillion in sales for the first time. However, despite sales growth, profitability declined.

Hyundai Motor's sales in the first half of this year came to KRW 95.1542 trillion, up 2.7% from a year earlier. Its operating profit in the first half was KRW 5.3656 trillion, down 25.8% from the same period last year. The deterioration in profitability was affected by disruptions in parts supply, rising raw material prices and intensifying sales competition.

Despite the burden on profitability, Hyundai Motor Group is continuing investment in future businesses. The group plans to invest KRW 125.2 trillion domestically this year through 2030. The investment targets are AI, SDV, robotics, electrification and hydrogen, and the purpose is technology development and expansion of production facilities.

As one pillar of its future business investment plan, Hyundai Motor Group is concretizing the application of its robotics business. In the robotics business, it is preparing to deploy the humanoid Atlas on production lines.

Hyundai Motor Group is planning Atlas's work inside HMGMA starting in 2028. Atlas is expected to be deployed first to tasks that classify parts work by sequence. Then, in 2030, the group plans to expand Atlas's use to assembly processes.

To this end, RMAC is conducting robot training by recreating manufacturing environments. The robots are being trained to repeatedly handle and transport parts. At the same time, data collection is being used to verify the performance and safety needed for deployment on production lines.

In the robotics field, a method is being proposed in which data secured during training is used to improve AI models, errors and environmental changes that occur during work are reflected in training, and the improved models are tested again. Factory operating experience and on-site data are also being used in robot development, with the aim of improving performance needed for actual work.

At the same time, Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind are jointly developing next-generation humanoid technology. The goal is to combine robot control technology with AI-based models so that robots can recognize their surroundings and perform a variety of tasks.

In preparation for commercialization, the company is reviewing sales and financial support measures. Hyundai Motor has suggested the possibility of using its existing dealer network for robot distribution, while Hyundai Capital is reviewing financial support measures for robot purchases.

In the autonomous driving segment, the company is pursuing both vehicle supply to outside operators and in-house driving AI development. It plans to supply Ioniq 5 vehicles produced at HMGMA to Waymo, and the vehicles will be equipped with redundancy in key systems such as steering, braking and power, along with safety and security specifications for autonomous driving.

For the purpose of integrating and using driving data from Hyundai Motor, Kia, 42dot and Motional, Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing sensor standardization. The group plans to align data collection and processing standards around the Nvidia ecosystem.

Hyundai Motor Group plans to use these aligned standards for AI training and verification. Through this, it is pursuing stronger driver-assistance functions in mass-produced vehicles.

At this year's CEO Investor Day, Hyundai Motor announced its cooperation with Nvidia. The target for application is the first mass-produced SDV in 2028, and the function to be applied is Level 2+ driver assistance.

At the same time, Hyundai Motor Group is moving to establish computing and production facilities in Saemangeum to support autonomous driving and robotics development. The group signed an investment agreement with the central government and Jeonbuk State in February, and the investment targets include an AI data center, robot manufacturing, a parts cluster, hydrogen facilities and solar power facilities. The total investment is KRW 9 trillion, and the investment will be executed in stages.

Of this, the allocation for the AI data center is KRW 5.8 trillion. Hyundai Motor Group aims to gradually secure computing capacity at the 50,000-GPU level, and plans to use that capacity to process and store data for autonomous driving, robotics and smart factory development.

This project is presented as a path to build a robotics production base, a hydrogen production and supply system, and an AI hydrogen city demonstration project together. In the robotics field, KRW 400 billion will be invested in a robot manufacturing and parts cluster, and the plan includes building a robot manufacturing plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 units and a robot parts complex. A policy to support contract manufacturing of robots for small and medium-sized enterprises has also been prepared, and the group plans to encourage auto parts suppliers to enter the robot parts business. Motors and sensors were cited as examples of the parts to be encouraged to enter the business.

In the hydrogen sector, the plan includes building a 200 MW-scale water electrolysis plant. The hydrogen production method will use renewable energy, and solar power facilities are planned to serve as the electricity source for the electrolysis plant. The hydrogen produced in this way will be supplied to transportation such as buses and trams.

The Saemangeum smart waterfront city project is presented as an AI hydrogen city. The project plans to apply physical AI in transportation, logistics and safety. Solar power facilities are also planned to be used as a power source for the AI data center, and Hyundai Motor Group plans to use its local experience in city operation and demonstration for overseas AI city projects.

Major facilities are targeted for completion in 2029. Construction of the AI data center is scheduled to begin in 2027, and construction of the robot manufacturing and parts cluster is scheduled to begin in 2028. However, in the process of promoting the project, securing computing demand alongside facility construction, securing robot purchase customers and securing hydrogen supply sources were identified as challenges.

The introduction of AI and robots on production sites is seen as a labor-management cooperation issue. As the use of AI and robots expands in the future, changes in work methods and possible shifts in workforce allocation are likely, making labor-management consultations on process transitions and job training necessary.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor's labor union clashed with management over bonus increases and retirement age extensions in this year's wage negotiations, and staged a full 8-hour strike for the first time in 10 years. The industry estimated production losses from this year's cumulative strikes at about 55,200 vehicles and sales losses at at least KRW 2.3 trillion, and the wage talks were concluded after a union member vote in September.

Since Chairman Jeong took office, Hyundai Motor Group has expanded from automobiles into autonomous driving and robotics. The group is pursuing the deployment of Atlas in factories and the establishment of Saemangeum infrastructure, thereby pushing ahead with the commercialization of physical AI. Looking ahead, the company is discussing the possibility of supplying factory-verification technology to outside customers and expanding businesses that add operating services to vehicle and robot sales, and whether it expands such a business that combines external supply of factory-verification technology with operating services will be the key issue going forward.

Source: TECHWORLD · Kim Seung-ki
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=408133

References

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