Hyundai Motor Group has stepped up efforts to bring suppliers into its shift towards artificial intelligence, robotics and software-defined vehicles, signing a broad co-operation agreement with the Fair Trade Commission and first- and second-tier partners on 7 August in Pangyo, south of Seoul.
The ceremony, held at the DoubleTree hotel, brought together Fair Trade Commission chairman Joo Byung-ki, Hyundai Motor Group strategy chief Seo Gang-hyun, executives from 12 group affili...
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ates including Hyundai Motor and Kia, and representatives from about 150 suppliers. The company is seeking to frame its supply chain not simply as a network of parts makers, but as a wider industrial ecosystem able to adapt to the technologies that will shape its next phase of growth.
That shift is already under way. Hyundai Motor Group has in recent years moved beyond conventional carmaking into robotics, autonomous driving, future air mobility, hydrogen energy and smart factories, while also accelerating its software-led vehicle strategy. In April 2023, Hyundai Motor and Kia announced a collaboration with 19 industry companies to standardise software development and virtual testing for software-defined vehicles, an effort designed to build a more open development environment and improve software competitiveness. More recently, in August 2025, the group held a Pleos SDV Standard Forum with 58 key partners, including Hyundai Mobis, Hyundai Kefico, Bosch and Continental, to share development frameworks and technical standards.
Under the latest agreement, Hyundai Motor and Kia will support suppliers in shifting towards SDV, electrification and autonomous driving technologies, while also providing training in AI, software, ESG, carbon neutrality and cyber security. Hyundai Mobis will help cultivate suppliers of advanced parts as the group expands its robotics business, and Hyundai Rotem will back the development of technical talent. Hyundai AutoEver will support AI training and certification for supplier employees, while Hyundai Wia will help firms expand their global business base through export-import certification support.
Other affiliates are tailoring assistance to their own industries. Hyundai Kefico will provide free patent access, technical support, support for youth recruitment, and improved terms from its shared-growth fund. Hyundai Steel plans to ease financial pressure on suppliers through fund operations and training on the supplier price-linking system. Hyundai Transys will offer ESG training and consulting, while Hyundai Engineering and Hyundai Engineering & Construction are focusing on workplace safety, including stronger safety budgets and incentives for site managers.
In the advertising arm of the group, Innocean said it would help pay AI subscription fees for supplier staff, while also using a technology deposit system to protect intellectual property. It also plans to pay creative fees to firms that lose bids, in a move meant to widen support in line with the characteristics of the business.
Seo said the strength of suppliers was inseparable from the strength of Hyundai Motor Group itself, adding that the group wanted no partner to be left behind as the industry moves towards electrification, autonomy, robotics and software. Joo said healthier collaboration between major manufacturers and suppliers would help innovation in future mobility become more sustainable, and described Hyundai Motor Group’s commitment as a possible starting point for a more advanced economic system.
Source: Noah Wire Services
