[Korean Auto Trends 1783] Team up with NVIDIA to Overtake! Can Hyundai Motor Beat China?

This is the most professional and authoritative series content on Korean cars and the Korean car market across the web, [Korean Auto Trends] Issue 1783.

NVIDIA's Jensen Huang visits Korea again. Compared to the visit in November 2025, this is the second visit to Korea after 7 months. This itinerary is more intensive, further deepening the cooperation layout with local Korean enterprises, and announced the construction of an industrial ecosystem centered on NVIDIA, while semiconductors are the core foundation of this ecosystem.

NVIDIA holds core system technology, while Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix possess absolute advantages in the storage semiconductor field. All parties take what they need and cooperate hand in hand. For Hyundai Motor Group and relevant Korean enterprises, how to find the industrial positioning based on their own advantages and build an exclusive new industrial ecosystem has become a core development topic at present.

The core advantage of Hyundai Motor Group lies in the ability to link with NVIDIA, local Korean IT enterprises, and the top three battery manufacturers to carry out diversified cooperation. This is also the core reason why American NVIDIA, lacking a manufacturing foundation, frequently deepens its cultivation of the Korean market. In the future, there is still room for adjustment and upgrade in the cooperation model and business layout between Hyundai Motor Group and NVIDIA.

Jensen Huang met with Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun. Both parties settled on multiple deep cooperation items: deepening robot technology cooperation centered on Boston Dynamics, and promoting the deep integration of NVIDIA's AI accelerated computing ecosystem with Hyundai Motor Group's next-generation Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) architecture. Especially importantly, NVIDIA gave a positive cooperation response to Chairman Chung Eui-sun's proposed Shinmi AI Industry Base construction plan.

In short, NVIDIA and Hyundai Motor Group are deeply binding and complementary win-win based on their respective industrial ecosystem advantages, which is also the most typical cooperation paradigm in the current era of global industrial transformation.

Software Defined Vehicle Era, Core Content R&D Needs to Be Developed Independently

In this brand-new industrial transformation, Hyundai Motor Group holds a key seat. There is still no conclusion on who holds the industry leadership, but sticking to the past development logic is no longer workable; must keep up with future technology trends and continuously cultivate and strengthen core competitiveness.

Korea's core advantage lies in possessing both top IT and AI technologies and a foundation in high-end manufacturing. Against this background, Hyundai Motor Group urgently needs to clarify and implement development strategies suitable for the new era.

Currently, Hyundai Motor Group has comprehensively promoted transformation, upgrading from hardware manufacturing-oriented to a future vehicle company strategy led by software technology. Chairman Chung Eui-sun proposed the brand positioning of "Mobility as a Service Provider" as early as 2018, and now this strategic direction is gradually taking shape.

Korea's well-developed IT infrastructure and global top-tier manufacturing base will form a super strong synergy in the era of autonomous driving and Software Defined Vehicles. Relying on vehicle hardware mass production capabilities already recognized globally, Hyundai Motor Group relies on the "Dual-Track Strategy", accelerating the independent research and internalization of core technologies and commercial implementation, adapting to the transformation trend of the automotive industry towards artificial intelligence and digital platforms.

The two core carriers of Hyundai Motor Group's software innovation are the Group's Global Software Center 42dot (Forty-Two Dot) and the AVP HQ responsible for coordinating the R&D of high-end vehicle platforms. The Group is independently developing an SDV in-vehicle operating system to achieve vehicle hardware and software decoupling, allowing vehicles to continuously iterate and upgrade functions like smartphones.

At the technology forum held recently, AVP Head Park Min-woo emphasized that the success or failure of next-generation mobility technology lies not in laboratory R&D results, but in the ability to implement safely and efficiently in the market.

This software-centric cognitive transformation has fully penetrated the factory production system. Hyundai Motor Group is accelerating the transformation of traditional hardware assembly factories into software-driven smart factories. Relying on artificial intelligence and data centers, building a 24-hour uninterrupted, flexible, and intelligent production system, capable of mass-producing various high-end customized SDV models with zero loss, building top-tier smart manufacturing barriers.

In the field of high-speed computing chips and AI infrastructure core to autonomous driving, Hyundai Motor Group is deeply bound with NVIDIA, and both parties have agreed to introduce NVIDIA's next-generation autonomous driving computing standard platform — NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion.

Hyundai Motor Group is building a massive data closed-loop ecosystem: millions of vehicles traveling on roads collect traffic data in real-time, upload to the cloud to complete AI model iteration training, and optimized driving logic is re-empowered to every vehicle via OTA remote upgrade. This allows vehicles to constantly evolve with usage time, continuously improving driving stability and parking assistance capabilities.

Currently, the cooperation between both parties has broken through production-level L2+ advanced driver assistance systems, extending towards the L4 fully autonomous driving field. It is generally believed by the industry that the commercial implementation of fully autonomous driving at this stage still needs time, and its core value is more reflected in driving diversified expansion of the entire industry chain and incubating new industrial scenarios.

Hyundai Motor Group's autonomous driving technology is implemented through the US joint venture Motional. Based on the Ioniq 5, L4 level autonomous driving taxis are built, equipped with a full set of high-performance LiDAR, radar, and camera perception devices, integrated via modern mass production lines, achieving ultra-high assembly precision and safety stability.

Motional connects with Uber and other large mobility platforms, continuously promoting the demonstration operation and commercial implementation of autonomous driving taxis in core cities like Las Vegas in the United States. Addressing the "last mile" problems of autonomous driving such as complex urban intersections and temporary construction sections, heavily investing in remote control and AI simulation technology to advance, fully promoting the rooting of autonomous driving commercial businesses.

Current Core Task: Solidify Core Competitiveness of Electric Vehicles and Batteries

The core of industrial breakthrough cannot be separated from the continuous iteration and upgrade of electric vehicle and battery technology. Hyundai Motor Group takes the three major Korean battery companies as the core cooperation base, while flexibly introducing Chinese battery supply chains to adapt to different market demands.

China relies on policy subsidies and a huge domestic market to quickly seize the initiative in the global electrification ecosystem. In response, Hyundai Motor Group insists on an independent research technology route, strictly controls the supply chain system, creates differentiated competitive advantages, and achieves cross-position competition with Chinese car companies.

Hyundai Motor Group's competitiveness in the fields of electric vehicles and batteries, as well as differentiated advantages over Chinese brands, are mainly reflected in three dimensions:

First, relying on the core advantage of ultra-fast charging technology, based on the dedicated pure electric platform E-GMP, Hyundai Motor Group takes root in the global market and is the first to popularize 800V high-voltage fast charging systems in mass production models, charging 80% in 18 minutes, maximizing the usage efficiency of charging infrastructure. Currently, Chinese car companies have also comprehensively followed the 800V high-voltage platform layout.

Second, V2L external discharge technology and mature energy management systems are Hyundai Motor's core ace. This technology allows cars to break through the attribute of a simple tool for transportation, transform into mobile energy storage devices (ESS), and gain high recognition from North American and European consumers with high value-added experiences.

Third, to get rid of the dependence on the Chinese battery supply chain and cope with the supply chain monopoly advantage of Chinese enterprises, Hyundai Motor Group accelerates the promotion of battery independent research and technology internalization, firmly grasping the core technology leadership.

Hyundai Motor Group invested 1.2 trillion South Korean Won to build the group's first comprehensive battery R&D base in Anseong, covering an area equivalent to 28 football fields. The base will realize the full-chain independent research and internalization of battery cell design, process engineering, and integrated control systems, and will implement independent battery mass production lines in the future, becoming the core headquarters of the group's battery technology.

In response to the offensive of affordable LFP lithium iron phosphate batteries led by Chinese brands such as BYD, Hyundai Motor Group relies on mass production R&D experience of hybrid batteries to vigorously promote the R&D and optimization of domestic LFP batteries dedicated to electric vehicles. At the same time, the dual-track strategy is adopted: collaborating with the three major Korean battery companies to strengthen the high-end product line layout of high-performance NCM ternary lithium batteries, forming a battery system with high and low matching and comprehensive coverage.

Chinese car companies seize the global market with extreme cost-performance ratios and rapid software iteration, while Hyundai Motor Group creates core differentiated advantages with quality reliability and a secure supply chain without geopolitical risks.

At the same time, Chinese companies such as CATL and BYD announced the launch of models equipped with all-solid-state batteries in 2027, starting the technology race. Hyundai Motor Group adopts a steady strategy, fully considering technical uncertainty and high initial costs. First, complete the trial production and technical verification of all-solid-state batteries through pilot production lines. Plan to comprehensively promote commercial implementation after technology, safety, and product strength are fully mature in 2030. This strategy effectively improves the brand's safety reputation and long-term credibility in the global market.

Industrial Transformation Era, Urgently Need to Build a Brand-New Development Paradigm

The aforementioned full-chain technology upgrades and ecosystem layouts require huge capital investment, which most enterprises find difficult to complete independently. The United States relies on technology giants to independently explore future industries, China relies on national policies to strongly support industrial development, and Korean enterprises find it extremely difficult to break out on their own. This also highlights the core value of collaborating with global giants like NVIDIA.

Currently, global trade protectionism is on the rise, and Chinese car companies are deeply trapped in trade barriers such as the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and European tariff barriers. In contrast, Hyundai Motor Group has already laid out vehicle and battery joint ventures in many places around the world, including Georgia, Europe, India, Indonesia in the US, building a globalized supply chain without geopolitical sanction risks. This advantage has become the core barrier for Hyundai Motor Group to expand the global B2B market and move conservative European and American consumers, completely distinguishing it from Chinese car companies.

The ultimate ace of the Korean automotive industry and Hyundai Motor Group is a solid hardware manufacturing foundation, which is also the underlying support for continuous iteration of software capabilities. Global technology giants have strong software strength, but mass production implementation and quality control capabilities are weak; European car companies find it difficult to adapt to the new in-vehicle computing architecture transformation. Only Hyundai Motor Group has built a complete industrial value chain with balanced development of hardware and software.

Hyundai Motor Group must avoid single platform dependence. Must actively leverage AI chip and infrastructure resources of global technology companies like NVIDIA, while fully achieving complete independent research and internalization of core driving algorithms and autonomous in-vehicle control systems, which will be the core watershed determining future global mobility market discourse.

Cars are the core carrier of this industrial transformation. Cars in the industrial era are already completely different from mobility tools in the digital revolution era, which is also the core reason for the industry upgrading from "Automotive Manufacturing" to "Mobility". Hyundai Motor Group must compete on the same stage with cross-border giants like NVIDIA and Tesla, and face powerful Chinese car companies. And if you want to achieve comprehensive transcendence, the only breakthrough is to build a brand-new industrial development paradigm suitable for the new era.