The accelerating cooperation between Hyundai Motor Group and Samsung Group — South Korea’s leading conglomerates and longtime rivals — is being read as a “survival alliance” aimed at coping with global uncertainty. With each group’s fortunes hinging on how it navigates the U.S.-China rivalry and a reshaping of global supply chains, the two are moving to prioritize practical interests.
Through the eras of founders Lee Byung-chull of Samsung and Chung Ju-yung of Hyundai, and of Samsung’s late Chairman Lee Kun-hee and Hyundai Motor Group Honorary Chairman Chung Mong-koo, Samsung and Hyundai were fierce rivals vying for the top spot in the corporate rankings. But by the third generation — Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung — competition with global companies beyond the domestic market has intensified, turning the relationship into a strategic partnership. Trust built on the two leaders’ long friendship is also said to have played a part.
The scope of cooperation spans batteries, robots, semiconductors, automotive electronics and software-defined vehicles (SDVs). The two groups’ businesses had rarely overlapped, but points of contact are growing rapidly as both have designated physical artificial intelligence (AI) as a new growth engine.
Robotics is the most active area. Last year, Hyundai Motor and Kia signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Samsung SDI to jointly develop high-performance batteries designed specifically for robots, going beyond electric-vehicle batteries. Hyundai Motor and Kia’s Robotics Lab handles evaluating the newly developed batteries for robot applications and enhancing their performance, while Samsung SDI is responsible for developing high-capacity materials.
There is speculation that Samsung SDI batteries could also go into “Atlas,” the humanoid that Boston Dynamics, Hyundai Motor Group’s robotics subsidiary, is preparing for mass production. Samsung SDI is developing a solid-state battery for use in robots, targeting mass production in the second half of 2027. Hyundai Motor Group has announced plans to build a humanoid production plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 units by 2028. To date, Samsung SDI batteries have been installed in Hyundai Motor’s delivery robot “DAL-e” and its robot platform “MobED.”
Also notable in robotics is a multi-legged walking robot for counterterrorism operations, jointly developed by Rainbow Robotics and Hyundai Rotem. Under the arrangement, Rainbow Robotics provides the robot-dog platform while Hyundai Rotem handles modifications to mount weapons systems. The two companies are reported to have agreed to supply up to 1,000 of these robots to the Army in the second half of this year. Samsung Electro-Mechanics is aiming to supply the camera module that will serve as Atlas’s eyes, and said it plans to begin initial mass production of high-definition, high-resolution sensing modules for humanoids in the third quarter.
This robot-battery alliance builds on cooperation in electric-vehicle batteries. Samsung SDI signed a contract to supply batteries from its Hungary plant for seven years from 2026 to 2032 for Hyundai Motor and Kia electric vehicles bound for Europe, resulting in the Hyundai Ioniq 3 and Kia EV2 that go on sale in the region this year. A third joint product, the Genesis GV90, is set for its global unveiling and launch in the third quarter. For these batteries, Samsung SDI applied a stack structure that piles up the cathode, anode and separator layer by layer, achieving both high capacity and long life.
Hyundai Motor and Samsung are also expanding cooperation in semiconductors and automotive electronics. In 2023, Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics agreed to cooperate on supplying the “Exynos Auto V920,” a chip for infotainment (a blend of information and entertainment). Equipped with a high-performance graphics processing unit (GPU) and low-power memory, the Exynos Auto V920 can control six displays and 12 camera sensors at once and supports driver-monitoring functions.
Samsung Electronics’ foundry (contract chip manufacturing) is reported to have won an order last October to produce an 8-nanometer (nm, one-billionth of a meter) chip for autonomous driving that Hyundai Motor is developing in-house. Hyundai Motor aims to complete the chip’s development in 2028 and begin mass production in 2030. The two companies are also said to be cooperating on developing next-generation automotive semiconductors such as embedded magnetic memory (eMRAM). In addition, Samsung Display resumed its supply partnership after 10 years by delivering automotive organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for Hyundai Motor’s “Ioniq 5” in 2021, and has since steadily supplied OLED panels for new models including “Genesis.”
The two groups’ cooperation extends even to SDVs, a core element of future mobility. In March this year, Hyundai Motor teamed up with Samsung Electronics to launch its “Car-to-Home” service. It links a vehicle’s infotainment system with Samsung Electronics’ Internet of Things (IoT) platform “SmartThings,” allowing drivers to remotely control home appliances even while driving. The move expands on the “Home-to-Car” service, launched last September, that remotely controls a vehicle from a mobile device.