Hyundai Chair Euisun Chung Calls Tesla and BYD Pressure an Opening to Build Better EVs

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung said on Thursday that intensifying pressure from Tesla and BYD is "a good opportunity to develop the specific features and products that our customers truly desire," reframing the fiercest competitive moment in the automaker's history as a catalyst for product improvement rather than a threat to its market position.

Chung made the remarks on May 14 in Seoul at a town hall inside the newly renovated lobby of Hyundai Motor Group's Yangjae headquarters, which reopened Thursday after nearly two years of reconstruction. The comments come as BYD overtook Tesla in global battery-electric vehicle deliveries in 2025 — the first time in over a decade that Tesla did not lead the category — and as both brands accelerate expansion into markets where Hyundai and Kia have traditionally been strongest.

Chung Pledges New Models, Rejects Reactive Development

Speaking to reporters ahead of the town hall, Chung said Hyundai's response to rivals would not be to mirror their launches. "Both Hyundai and Kia have new models in the pipeline," he said, "and while our competitors will continue to launch their own, we will stay confident in our established development roadmaps and focus on enhancing the overall perfection of our vehicles rather than reacting to any single competing model."

Hyundai has already moved aggressively on pricing. The 2026 IONIQ 5 received price cuts of up to $9,800, bringing its starting price to $35,000. Kia slashed the price of the 2026 EV6 by up to $5,450. Both moves came directly in response to downward pricing pressure from BYD and Tesla, and Chung's comments on Thursday signal that a broader product response — built on development discipline rather than discounting — will follow.

The competitive backdrop is significant. BYD delivered approximately 2.26 million battery-electric vehicles worldwide in 2025, surpassing Tesla's 1.64 million units — a milestone not seen since the early days of mass-market EVs. Hyundai's annual China visit to Auto China 2026 in Beijing earlier this month added urgency: Chung said he "learned a lot" from observing the speed of China's EV ecosystem.

Atlas Humanoid Robot Moves From Lab to Factory Floor in 2026

Chung also used the town hall to reaffirm Hyundai's robotics ambitions, acknowledging the group was working through "trial and error" as it pivoted beyond its automotive core. "We will quickly learn from these experiences and move forward," he said, adding: "We will accelerate our transformation into an AI-based robotics company."

The push is already generating results. Boston Dynamics — the Hyundai subsidiary behind the Atlas humanoid robot — announced at CES in January 2026 that all 2026 Atlas deployments were fully committed, with fleets shipping to Hyundai's Robotics Metaplant Application Center (RMAC) and to Google DeepMind. The product version of Atlas can lift up to 110 pounds, operates autonomously, and can be trained for most industrial tasks in under a day.

Boston Dynamics plans to deploy Atlas at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028, initially handling parts sequencing before expanding to component assembly by 2030. The group has set a target of manufacturing 30,000 Atlas units annually by 2028. Chung's Yangjae headquarters itself now serves as a live demonstration: service robots DAL-e and Spot operate alongside employees throughout the renovated space, with navigation paths and charging stations designed into the building from the start.

Saudi Arabia Plant Faces Delay as Middle East Conflict Cuts Sales

Chung acknowledged that geopolitical instability is creating real costs. Hyundai's manufacturing facility in Saudi Arabia — a joint venture with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and originally scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2026 — is now at risk of delay, and regional sales are down.

CEO José Muñoz said in April that Hyundai could not fully replace lost Middle East volumes, citing manufacturing constraints and vehicle configurations specific to Gulf markets. Middle East sales had been Hyundai's highest-margin regional business. Chung said Thursday that Hyundai would "prepare meticulously so that we can resume operations effectively once the conflict subsides."

Labor Disputes at Korean Automakers Prompted Call for Shareholder-Aware Bargaining

With unions at both Hyundai Motor and Kia calling for bonuses worth 30% of net profit — and Samsung Electronics' union separately threatening a walkout over a demand for performance bonuses equal to 15% of operating profit — Chung weighed in on Korean labor relations. He called for "a wise and collaborative approach," saying companies can grow efficiently only when labor and management "consider shareholders and national development."

The remarks were notable for their timing. Chung did not address either union's specific demands, but framed the current wave of industrial disputes as an opportunity for Korean firms to demonstrate the kind of coordinated governance that could sustain global competitiveness.

Renovated Yangjae Lobby Puts Robots in the Room With Engineers

The reopening of Hyundai's Yangjae headquarters — the group's symbolic home since 2000 — provided the staging for Chung's broader message about human-robot collaboration. The space, which took nearly two years to reconstruct, spans approximately 36,000 square meters across four floors and was designed by Studio Architecture around the concept of an ancient Greek agora.

"Most companies ask us to create an impressive lobby that serves as a showroom for their brand," said Alexandra Villegas Sanne, director at Studio Architecture, "but what Hyundai Motor Group emphasized from the start was people." The space includes a library developed with Japan's Culture Convenience Club (operator of Tsutaya Books), 12 restaurants, a grand hall, a fitness center, and a swimming pool. Robot delivery and plant-care units move through the space on dedicated routes built into the architecture at design stage — the same integration philosophy Chung said the group intends to bring to its factories.