Hyundai Motor Group has established a strategic partnership with GM of the United States. It is evaluated as an unexpected 'godsend' that can produce the best results in a situation where there is great uncertainty about the present and the future.


This cooperation is evaluated as significantly different from existing practices in that it is a comprehensive, all-round cooperation relationship rather than a simple joint research and cooperation in each field.

Through this collaboration, a foundation will be laid for cooperation in all fields, and a global effect of synergy is expected by highlighting each other's strengths while complementing each other's weaknesses.

First, we can think about the generally expected synergies.

The best target is the use of global factories. Hyundai Motor Group is already the top automobile group, ranking third in the global market, and its global factories are expanding accordingly.

GM ranks fifth, but it is the leading company among the Big 3 representing the United States and is a symbolic manufacturer that also owns many global factories.

If these two global factories are linked, their mutual utilization will increase, and if necessary, the global joint development model can be utilized in each other's factories. The effect of eliminating global blind spots is growing.

It may be possible to share roles among countries that have not been able to advance into each other. Naturally, by jointly operating various parts and raw materials, including steel and other parts, as well as battery raw materials, it is possible to reduce costs and increase competitiveness.

By releasing a number of joint world best-selling models, you can increase your global market share by leveraging economies of scale in joint promotion and competition for leadership.

The electric and hybrid models, which are the strengths of the Hyundai Motor Group, are the models that GM wants the most. They can also be shared. In particular, the hydrogen model, which is a future mobility model, has great know-how from the Hyundai Motor Group, both in passenger and commercial vehicles. The hybrid model that GM wants the most is also the one in which the Hyundai Motor Group, along with Toyota, possesses the best technology.

Hybrids are currently the best-selling vehicles, replacing electric vehicles whose sales have been declining due to the recent 'electric vehicle chasm', but GM can also gain this know-how. Instead, it can target the pickup truck market of more than 3 million units in the US alone.

The pickup truck market is large in scale, but it is a characteristic that only American manufacturers have, so there are no cases of opening the door to overseas markets. It can be said to be a mammoth-sized partnership where the best synergy is expected in all fields. It is the best partnership that all global manufacturers are nervous about.

Tensions are expected to rise significantly between Toyota, the world's number one seller, and Volkswagen Group, number two. With this collaboration, it is only a matter of time before it surpasses second-place Volkswagen Group and could pose a real threat to Toyota.

Hyundai Motor Group has already received the highest ratings from overseas rating agencies, and its operating profit last year was approximately 27 trillion won, and this year it could even reach 30 trillion won.

The Hyundai Motor Group has already begun to take the lead in the global market by covering all areas from internal combustion engine vehicles to hybrid, electric, and hydrogen vehicles.

It is not the Hyundai Motor Group of the past.

Here, premium models such as Genesis are enjoying great success not only in Korea but also in the United States, and their market share is gradually increasing. From GM’s perspective, comprehensive cooperation with the Hyundai Motor Group can naturally yield the best results.

It will be especially helpful in the situation in the US. Hyundai Motor Group currently has a double-digit 10% market share in the US market and is increasing it. The size of the trade surplus with the US is bigger than ever, and there is growing alarm in the US.

In other words, from the US perspective, this growing deficit clearly means that signals are coming from the political world.

This is because in the US presidential election system, no candidate has a positive perception of this, and if Trump is elected and imposes a blanket tariff of 10% or more, a serious blow is expected.

Therefore, it is positive that this cooperation can be a starting point for resolving the current problems of Hyundai Motor Group, such as its trade surplus with the US, and in particular, it is very positive that the US-based factories and corporations can be considered flexible policy considerations by enhancing the image of being clearly an American company, not a Korean manufacturer. This means that the position in the US will be solidified.

It can even give a positive image to GM Korea in Korea. GM is one of many companies that has had a devastating impact on regions or countries over the past 20 years when it withdrew its factories or branches from the global market.

Of course, from GM's perspective, it is natural to sell and withdraw factories that have lost competitiveness, but since automobile factories are core competencies that support the economy of cities and countries, the region inevitably has a big impact. As this GM culture spreads, GM's perception in the global market is not so good. We have already suffered serious aftereffects from the closure of the Gunsan plant, and although the government provided mammoth support, it has emerged as a factor in labor-management conflict as the research and development corporation and the production corporation were separated and built to facilitate departure.

This collaboration will greatly change the role and factories of GM Korea, and it is possible that there will be more opportunities to expand strategic research and development and production along with flexible use. In other words, it means increasing the reason for domestic existence and increasing utilization. There is also hope that there will be an opportunity to grow in conjunction with the Hyundai Motor Group in terms of hybrid and electric vehicle production, which the union has always demanded.

Lastly, in a situation where the nationalism is prevalent and spreading, led by the US and Europe, our export-based position is facing many concerns.

In this situation, this cooperation is even more meaningful in that it increases the opportunity to overcome this and allows for sharing concerns. This is also the reason why the significance of cooperation with GM, the pride of the United States, rather than a typical global manufacturing company, is highlighted even more.

I am confident that this collaboration will be the starting point for Hyundai Motor Group to become the global No. 1 in the global market. I hope that Hyundai Motor Group, which is responsible for one axis of the domestic economy, will establish itself as a true global leader and step forward as a solid global representative company.