Hyundai Motor Co

Hyundai Motor Group announced it has put its Data Flywheel into full operation, a system creating a virtuous cycle of data collection, AI training, validation and deployment to accelerate autonomous driving development. At its HMG Autonomous Driving Media Day at 42dot headquarters in Gyeonggi Province, Korea, the Group outlined a Dual-Track strategy that pairs NVIDIA solutions-based Level 2+ production targeted for the first half of 2028 and Level 2++ in the second half of 2028, followed by Atria AI-powered Level 2++ vehicles in the second half of 2029. The Group is pursuing progressive sensor standardization across Hyundai Motor, Kia, 42dot and Motional, and is expanding its data ecosystem by leveraging annual sales of 7 million vehicles and its Data Union framework, with a data-centric development framework based on hard example mining, continuous training and SER. A real-world Level 4 pilot will launch in Gwangju by year-end in partnership with Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to secure large-scale validation data, while 42dot shared its Vision-Language-Action autonomous driving technology, which integrates visual information and language-based reasoning to guide driving decisions and address edge cases alongside parallel end-to-end autonomy development. Minwoo Park, President and Head of Advanced Vehicle Platform Division at Hyundai Motor Group and CEO of 42dot, said autonomous driving competitiveness now comes down to how much data a company secures, how quickly it learns and how effectively those results reach products and services.

Samsung Electronics Co.'s anticipated equity buyback is raising investor expectations that the Korean giant will purchase non-voting preferred shares, narrowing a steep discount and setting an example for others. More than 100 South Korean companies, including Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Chem Ltd., have issued preferred shares, which trade at an average 45% discount to common stock, according to Sachin Mistry, a portfolio manager at Palliser Capital in London. Last month, Samsung said it will spend up to 110 trillion won ($81.8 billion) on shareholder returns, one of the largest such programs worldwide, and the gap between its preferred and common shares currently stands at 26%, the widest in over a decade. Hyundai Motor also announced a buyback in August that includes preferred shares. Under Korean law, Samsung's financial affiliates cannot hold more than 10% of voting common stock, so a large buyback of common shares could force them to sell, making preferred shares a more attractive target. Investors like Yacktman Asset Management expect such buybacks to narrow the discount and help reduce the broader 'Korea discount' in equity valuations.

Hyundai-Posco Louisiana Steel, a joint venture between Hyundai Steel and Posco Group, has begun construction of a $5.8 billion fully integrated steel plant in Louisiana, with production slated to start in the first quarter of 2029. The venture will fund half of the project, with Posco contributing 20% and Hyundai and Kia each 15%. Described as the first-of-its-kind electric arc furnace plant, it will supply low-carbon steel sheets to North American automakers, particularly Hyundai Motor Group, and is expected to employ over 1,300 people directly. The facility aims to cut CO2 emissions by 70% compared to conventional blast furnaces and will support South Korea's $350 billion US investment commitment under the 2025 trade deal.

Hyundai Mobis has commenced full-scale mass production of PE systems, the integrated electric powertrain units that power EVs, at its new plant in Nováky, Slovakia, marking its first PE system production base in Europe and its third electrification facility in the region, following BSA plants in the Czech Republic and Spain. The facility, which held its grand opening ceremony attended by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and other officials, has an annual capacity of up to 280,000 PE systems and represents an investment of approximately KRW 250 billion. The plant will supply key electrification components to Hyundai Motor, Kia, and other global automakers, supporting Hyundai Mobis's goal of increasing revenue from global customers to 40% by 2033.