Toyota, Hyundai chiefs to meet in Seoul for hydrogen alliance

The leaders of Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Group will meet in South Korea later this month, raising expectations of a deepening partnership between the world’s No. 1 and No. 3 auto groups in future mobility technology.

Hyundai Motor announced on Tuesday that Akio Toyoda, chairman of Toyota Motor, will visit South Korea to attend the Hyundai N x TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival, which will be held at Everland Speedway on the grounds of the theme park in Yongin on Oct. 27.

Famous racers of Hyundai Motor and Toyota’s auto racing teams will take part in the event, while each company's chief will visit the other’s booth to share their visions of the mobility industry, according to the company.

Toyoda’s possible visit to Seoul was exclusively reported by The Korea Economic Daily last month, which said the Toyota chairman accepted an invitation from Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Euisun to visit Korea, and the two companies were ironing out details about the two chiefs’ meeting in South Korea.

It will be Toyoda’s first visit to Korea in more than a decade. His last visit to Seoul was in 2012.

As both Japanese and Korean auto giants have been actively seeking to collaborate with their global peers to take the lead in future mobility technology, given the timing of Toyoda's visit, expectations are high for the two Asian auto titans' possible partnership in electric vehicle and hydrogen car technologies.

WIN-WIN

Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s largest car seller under Hyundai Motor Group, last month agreed on a strategic partnership with US auto giant General Motors Co. to jointly produce clean hydrogen in the US and develop future mobility solutions such as hydrogen fuel-cell cars and EVs.

It was the Korean carmaker’s first strategic alliance with a global finished carmaking peer.

Recently, Toyota also forged a partnership with Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or BMW in short, to jointly develop hydrogen vehicles. Under the deal, the Japanese carmaker will supply hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen tanks, while the German luxury automaker will develop essential driving parts.

The two agreed to jointly roll out hydrogen cars by 2028 and build a hydrogen fueling infrastructure across Europe.

After Japan’s Honda Motor Co. exited from the hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle market in 2021, Toyota and Hyundai have been competing in the fast-growing future mobility market as the main players.

According to market research firm SNE Research, hydrogen vehicles sold 5,621 units globally in the first half of this year, down 34% from 8,524 units a year earlier.

Hyundai sold 1,836 units of its NEXO hydrogen FCEV while Toyota sold 1,284 units of its Mirai hydrogen sedan.

Toyoda and Chung are expected to discuss possible collaborations in the hydrogen vehicle, EV and hybrid car sectors, according to sources. 

Hyundai’s Chung is said to be keen to learn Toyota’s hybrid car success factors, while Toyota’s Toyoda is highly interested in the Korean carmaker’s fast ascent in the EV market after its quick transition.

The cooperation between the world’s two best-performing carmakers could upend the global auto market, said an industry official.

The world’s best car seller Toyota Motor reported 5.35 trillion yen ($36.2 billion) in operating profit in 2023 on sales of 45 trillion yen, recording the highest operating margin of 11.9% in the global auto industry.

Hyundai Motor Group’s two car-making units Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. jointly reported 2.67 trillion won ($2.0 billion) in operating profit last year and sales of 26.73 trillion won to record a 10.18 operating margin.

The Korean auto group became the world’s third-largest automaker by volume last year.

HYDROGEN LEADERS

At the Hyundai N x TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Festival, Hyundai and Toyota will introduce their hydrogen concepts.

Hyundai Motor Group will show off the N Vision 74, a high-performance hydrogen-electric hybrid vehicle at its booth.

The company officially confirmed its mass production during its 2024 CEO Investor Day in August.

The company will also display other green racing cars including the IONIQ 5N TV SPEC, which won the Pikes Peak 2024 exhibition class after setting a new record for a modified electric SUV.

Toyota will unveil its hydrogen concept the AE86 H2 for the first time in Korea at the event.

It will also present Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR Corolla with customized electrification options based on different drivers’ needs.

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com

Sookyung Seo edited this article.