Hyundai chief meets with heads of Nvidia, CATL to seek AI, battery cooperation

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Hyundai chief meets with heads of Nvidia, CATL to seek AI, battery cooperation

Published: 14 Jan. 2026, 13:32

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, fifth from left, inspects Kia's Anantapur plant in central India on Jan. 12. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung met with global business leaders, including the chiefs of Nvidia and CATL, to exchange views on future growth engines such as AI, robotics and hydrogen.

From Jan. 4 to 13, Chung embarked on a 10-day tour of three major economies with significant global influence — China, the United States and India — accelerating global management efforts while inspecting key production sites on the ground.

Chung first visited China on Jan. 4 and 5 to attend the Korea-China Business Forum, where he held in-depth discussions with CATL Chairman Robin Zeng on EV batteries. CATL established a Korean office last year and has signaled plans to expand its business in the country.

He also met with Hou Qijun, chairman of Chinese energy giant China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), to exchange views on hydrogen-related businesses.

Hyundai is currently the world's largest hydrogen vehicle maker and produces hydrogen fuel cell systems at its hydrogen business hub, HTWO Guangzhou, in China. Sinopec has also been fostering hydrogen as a key strategic industry, recently launching a green hydrogen plant with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons.

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, left, inspects Hyundai's Chennai plant in southeastern India on Jan. 12. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Chung met with Zhang Naiwen, chairman of Jiangsu Yueda Group, Kia’s joint venture partner in China, where the two shared a consensus on strengthening their long-term, forward-looking partnership.

Hyundai launched its first China-exclusive EV model, the “Elexio,” in October last year and plans to expand its local EV lineup to six models by 2030. Kia has been building its EV portfolio in China by introducing at least one new electric model each year from 2023 through 2027, starting with the EV6.

Following his China trip, Chung traveled directly to Las Vegas on Jan. 6, where he met with top executives from global big-tech companies, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Qualcomm COO Akash J. Palkhiwala. He also toured major companies' booths at the CES 2026, the world’s largest IT and consumer electronics exhibition.

Chung’s reunion with Huang also raised expectations that Hyundai may adopt Nvidia’s autonomous driving AI, Alpamayo, a new technology unveiled at CES 2026. The first production model to feature the system is Mercedes-Benz’s upcoming CLA.

Hyundai and Nvidia have been expanding cooperation across multiple fronts, including a contract for the supply of 50,000 Blackwell GPUs.

Chung’s next destination was India, where he visited Hyundai's Chennai plant in southeastern India, Kia’s Anantapur plant in central India and Hyundai's Pune plant in the country’s midwestern region, reviewing local production and sales performance as well as mid- to long-term growth strategies, from Jan. 12 to 13.

Hyundai Motor, which entered the Indian market in 1996, currently ranks second in the country with a market share of around 20 percent.

“As Kia enters its eighth year in India, the market offers significant growth potential and opportunities," he said. “By leveraging our DNA — moving swiftly once a goal is set, not fearing failure and recovering quickly even when we fail — we must achieve sustainable growth and build a resilient, powerful brand.”

BY SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]