In the face of American President Trump's tariff policy squeezing its North American business profit, Hyundai Motor Group plans to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) driving human robots developed by its subsidiary Boston Dynamics at its American auto factory in 2026 and plans to deploy more than 30000 in the next few years, according to news reports from the Japanese Press.

Image source: Boston Dynamics

Hyundai Motor Company Chief Financial Officer Lee Seung-jo said at a January 29 financial presentation that the company would continue to take cost reduction and other crisis response measures to minimize the negative impact of tariffs. Hyundai's sales grew 6% year-on-year to 186 trillion Won ($128 billion) in the previous fiscal year (January 2025 to December 2025). Hyundai's Kia also saw sales increase 6% year-on-year to 114trn Won. Hyundai and Kia both hit record highs. However, in the last financial year, Hyundai's net profit fell 22% year-on-year to 10.36 trillion Won; Kia's net profit fell 23% year-on-year to 7.55 trillion Won. Decline in profitability in its North American business. As the largest market for Hyundai Motor Group, it will see strong sales of new cars in the United States in 2025, with sales growth of 2% to 1.07 million units, hitting a record for the sixth consecutive year and breaking the millionth mark for the first time.g. Although North America should have been Hyundai's growth engine in the context of weak sales in the Korean, European and Indian markets, the headwinds from tariffs are growing. Trump's government will impose an additional 25% tariff on imported vehicles in April 2025. Hyundai's operations in the US are still under pressure from rising vehicle and parts procurement costs, though tariffs on South Korean vehicles will be reduced to 15% from November 2025, following negotiations between the US and South Korea. Hyundai and Kia said they lost a total of 7 trillion Won in 2025 due to tariffs. This upwind is likely to increase further. On January 26, Trump announced that it plans to raise South Korean auto tariffs to 25% again. Hana Securities estimates that for each 10 percentage point increase in tariffs, Hyundai will add another 4.3 trillion Won to costs in FY 2026, causing operating profit to decline by 18%. Hyundai is taking steps to mitigate the impact. Hyundai CEO Jose Munoz said at a September 2025 press conference that the company plans to increase the proportion of local production in the United States from 40% in 2025 to 80% in 2030, and plans to invest 9trn Won in 2026, up 30% from 2025, with part of the funds being used to strengthen the U.S. production system.g. The program involves large-scale applications of artificial intelligence, as well as devices such as the Atlas physical AI robot developed by Boston Power acquired by Hyundai Motor Group in 2021. Boston Power will open the Atlas Robot Training Center in the United States in 2026, with gradual introduction into the factory as early as September 2026. The target is to achieve an annual output of about 30000 units by 2028. Atlas can lift a weight of 50 kg and repeat high-accuracy missions. It is designed to be waterproof and can work at temperatures from minus 20 deg C to minus 40 deg C. By 2030, Atlas will begin processing complex assembly processes. It is noted that Atlas can learn the task in one day and start autonomous from day one. The automatic battery change function enables 24-hour operation. SK Securities estimates that an Atlas robot will be sold for around 200 million Won and annual maintenance costs around 14 million Won. Samsung Securities' analysis shows that the initial operating cost of the Atlas robot is $9.40 per hour; If the production scale of 30000 units per year is realized, the cost can be reduced to USD 1.20 per hour, which is about one sixth of the labor cost in China. Hyundai also cooperates with U.S. technology giants such as Nvidia and Google in the development and application of robots. SK Securities lauds the moves, saying Hyundai is moving from a carmaker selling only cheap cars to a comprehensive mobile travel and robotics company. The market responded positively. Hyundai's share price has been hovering around half a million Won since mid-January, close to a record high and up about 140% over the past year. The market's expectations of its robotic programs have surpassed concerns about the impact of U.S. tariffs. However, Hyundai's plans remain hampered in the short term. The unions opposed the introduction of robots on the grounds of fear of downsizing, and held their first strike in seven years last September.