Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group Ride Out Industry Turmoil Together... Executives Follow Chairmen in Closing Ranks

Invite executives and their spouses from both groups to "Appreciation Day"
First large-scale event of its kind for a single domestic group
Semiconductor, battery and automotive electronics cooperation to gain momentum

Samsung and Hyundai Motor Group will hold their first-ever large-scale group-level exchange event to strengthen their partnership in future technologies. As uncertainty over trade and industry reshaped by artificial intelligence (AI) make it harder to count on growth based solely on the competitiveness of existing businesses, the two groups are working to broaden trust between their chairmen to executives across their organizations and build a foundation for a coordinated response.

According to industry sources on Nov. 9, Samsung Electronics will host an “Appreciation Day” this afternoon at The Universe, its training center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, inviting key executives from Hyundai Motor and Kia. Proposed by Samsung Electronics, the event will be attended by about 170 people, including executives from both companies’ affiliates and their spouses.

Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong (right) and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung talk at the “San Francisco AI Summit,” held at The Midway in San Francisco on July 24 (local time) and attended by President Lee Jae-myung. Yonhap News

Jeon Young-hyun, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Jang Jae-hoon, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, will host the event, which will include a performance and dinner. Spouses have also been invited, with the focus on fostering camaraderie and trust among executives. The aim is to extend the foundation for cooperation built through exchanges between the group chairmen to the executives responsible for each company’s businesses.

Samsung attendees will include Roh Tae-moon, president of Samsung Electronics; Choi Joo-sun, president of Samsung SDI; Jang Duk-hyun, president of Samsung Electro-Mechanics; and Lee Cheong, president of Samsung Display. Hyundai Motor Group attendees will include Hyundai Motor President Jose Munoz and Manfred Harrer, head of research and development (R&D) at Hyundai Motor and Kia. Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung are not expected to attend.

Underlying the two companies’ efforts to strengthen cooperation is a sense of urgency that current success does not guarantee future results. Samsung Electronics is benefiting from a memory-chip boom driven by increased AI investment, but it needs to expand the markets for its technologies into areas such as automobiles and robotics. Hyundai Motor Group, meanwhile, must protect the profitability of its vehicle business amid tariff pressures while building competitiveness in next-generation businesses such as autonomous driving and robotics.

The structure of their businesses also makes them increasingly important to each other. Hyundai Motor Group’s vehicle and robotics businesses offer Samsung future markets for its semiconductor and battery technologies. For Hyundai Motor Group, Samsung’s electronics and semiconductor capabilities can support product advancement and the expansion of new businesses. As boundaries between industries blur, the need to share business strategies from the development stage is growing, beyond simply trading individual components.

The event is an opportunity to express appreciation for past cooperation and strengthen the relationship at the executive level. It also reflects a desire for professional executives to meet regularly, exchange ideas, and identify opportunities to work together.

The two groups have maintained ties across three generations, dating back to their founders. In 2020, Lee and Chung strengthened the foundation for cooperation by making reciprocal visits to Samsung SDI’s Cheonan plant and Hyundai Motor’s Namyang R&D Center.

Since then, cooperation has expanded from automotive semiconductors and displays to electric-vehicle batteries and contract manufacturing of semiconductors for autonomous driving. Samsung Electronics’ Foundry Business Division is reportedly set to mass-produce a chip for autonomous driving developed in-house by Hyundai Motor last year. The two companies have also introduced services connecting vehicles and home appliances and begun jointly developing batteries specifically for robots.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.