Hyundai Motor Group to Invest 42 Trillion Won in Yeongnam over 10 Years... Fostering a Future Mobility Hub
Transition to Level 4 and Above Autonomous Driving 'AI DV'... Ulsan EV Plant to Become an AI Manufacturing Hub
Battery Cluster in Ulsan, Motor Cluster in Daegu, Thermal Management Cluster in Changwon
Hyundai Motor Group will invest 42 trillion won in the Yeongnam region over the next 10 years. The aim is to foster the region as a hub for advanced industries, including a transition to AI-based autonomous vehicles (AI DV) at Level 4 or higher, core future parts clusters, AI-based manufacturing innovation, future aerospace, and energy infrastructure.
On July 3, Hyundai Motor Group announced at the ‘Yeongnam Region Advanced Industry Development Vision National Briefing’ held in Jinju, Gyeongnam, that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for investment to foster advanced industries in the Yeongnam region with government ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Strategy and Budget, as well as local governments such as Busan, Daegu, Ulsan, Gyeongbuk Province, and Gyeongnam Province.
Alongside the ongoing Saemangeum project, Hyundai Motor Group plans to build an advanced industrial ecosystem in the Yeongnam region, aiming to promote balanced regional development, create jobs, and revitalize the national economy.
Jaehoon Chang, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, stated, “We will foster the Yeongnam region, the birthplace of Hyundai Motor Group, as a core hub for advanced AI-based autonomous mobility and key component manufacturing, as well as new business sectors. Through this investment, we will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of South Korea’s industries.”
First, Hyundai Motor Group plans to transform the Hyundai Motor Ulsan Plant—the world’s largest single automobile plant—into a core base for the future mobility industry, establishing it as a key hub for future industries.
Including the Ulsan electric vehicle (EV) plant, which is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year, the group will establish an AI manufacturing hub equipped with state-of-the-art automation and integrated production systems. An AI DV refers to a vehicle in which artificial intelligence learns and makes decisions based on vehicle data. This is part of an effort to secure leadership in AI DV in the global mobility market. Hyundai Motor Group is advancing its technology to achieve AI DVs with autonomous driving at Level 4 or higher, comparable to robotaxi standards.
The Ulsan hydrogen fuel cell plant will be built as a strategic production base to support the expansion of hydrogen mobility and the clean energy industry, mass-producing next-generation hydrogen fuel cells and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzers.
By 2030, the group will establish key component clusters such as a Hyundai Mobis battery system assembly line in Ulsan, a Hyundai Mobis motor and controller production line in Daegu, and a Hyundai Wia thermal management system production line for electric vehicles in Changwon, Gyeongnam.
The intelligent, AI-based manufacturing plant envisioned by Hyundai Motor Group will allow AI to make autonomous decisions across the entire factory, including production equipment, logistics, and quality control, creating optimal production synergy. The Yeongnam region, home to many of the group’s manufacturing bases, is regarded as the ideal location for demonstrating and spreading advanced manufacturing innovation. The group plans to leverage its accumulated high-quality data to develop AI models specialized for manufacturing and establish a data flywheel structure, where physical AI drives innovation on the industrial site.
In particular, Hyundai Motor Group will expand its business scope to future aerospace mobility, ranging from urban aviation to space launch vehicles and lunar exploration. Supernal, the group’s U.S.-based future aviation mobility subsidiary, will jointly develop next-generation aircraft based on electrified powertrains in the Yeongnam region.
The group will enhance its capabilities by applying autonomous driving and AI technologies accumulated from automobile and robotics development to manufacturing lunar exploration rovers, including engines for space launch vehicles, and will promote the localization of core technologies in the space industry.
Investments will also be made to ensure stable and sustainable energy supply. Hyundai Motor Group aims to increase energy self-sufficiency and foster it as a next-generation export industry by building energy infrastructure such as small modular reactors (SMRs), offshore wind power, and water electrolysis plants.
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A Hyundai Motor Group representative said, “By expanding the group’s manufacturing capabilities, accumulated over decades, into the field of advanced future industries, we will strengthen our growth engine, secure irreplaceable competitiveness, and continue to contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of the domestic industry.”
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