Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Amid Tesla's bullish run, Samsung, Hyundai seek cooperation in future vehicles
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, left and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
Samsung Group leader Lee Jae-yong had a second meeting with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun, Tuesday, this time at Hyundai's Namyang R&D Center in Gyeonggi Province. The two discussed further cooperation in the electric vehicles (EVs), self-driving technology and urban air mobility (UAM) sectors, according to officials from the two companies.
The meeting following Chung's visit to the Cheonan plant of Samsung SDI, the Samsung Group's battery-making arm, in May, which is where the two discussed business together for the first time.
Given that this meeting was held at the same time as U.S. EV giant Tesla is pushing for a new sales record for its EVs here, it has drawn keen attention among Korean media as Samsung has indicated that the EV battery business will be one of its next growth engines.
Samsung said Lee visited the Namyang R&D Center with ranking officials of the group and had a ride in Hyundai Motor's self-driving car and test drove a fuel-cell-powered car before having lunch with Chung.
“Members of Samsung's management visited the research center and talked about cooperation in the future cars and mobility sectors with Hyundai Motor executives,” a Samsung official said.
Established in 1995, Hyundai Motor Group's Namyang R&D Center is the country's largest automotive research center, developing future driving technologies and testing Hyundai's new cars. Samsung leader Lee was accompanied by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam, Samsung SDI CEO Jun Young-hyun and Kang In-yup, president of the System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics.
“During the meeting, the Samsung executives listened to explanations about Hyundai Motor's future business areas such as UAM, robotics and other technologies,” the Samsung official added.
Though they didn't elaborate on the details, industry officials said the two leaders' series of meetings have major implications in the automotive and related industries given Samsung and Hyundai used to be archrivals in the business landscape.
For Hyundai Motor Group, which aims to launch 23 EV models and sell 1 million EVs by 2025, expanding its partnerships with EV battery makers has become a top priority as it needs to establish a stable supply chain ahead of mass production of the EVs.
Chung has already held a series of meetings with the heads of local battery makers including LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won over the past two months.
While Tesla is aiming to corner the future car market by producing EV battery cells by itself and further refining its Autopilot driver-assist technology, industry analysts expect the Samsung-Hyundai partnership could become a strong competitor for the U.S. giant as Samsung holds a leading position in chips, displays and EV battery cells while Hyundai has its edge in the fuel-cell and EV sectors.
Samsung Group has been speeding up efforts to join the lucrative future car business since it acquired U.S. automotive electronics company Harman in 2017.
Samsung Electronics sells Exynos Auto semiconductors used for in-vehicle infotainment systems and self-driving technologies.
Despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, Samsung SDI has weathered the outbreak well, seeing a growth in its battery sales globally.
Industry analysts estimated the second quarter operating profit for Samsung SDI will come to 72.1 billion won ($60 million), which is slightly higher than the market consensus of 70 billion won.
“Despite stagnant demand for its EV batteries, the company has been weathering the pandemic reasonably well thanks to its European buyers who are making plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles. After falling into a contraction in the European market in April due to massive shutdown measures, the firm started to see growth in May,” said Kim Ji-san, an analyst at Kiwoom Securities.