General Motors and the Hyundai Motor Company have signed a new, non-binding, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the potential for collaborations across new vehicle development, new energy technologies, supply chain sourcing, and more. Together, through these collaborations, the OEMs intend to reduce costs while bringing a wider range of vehicles and technologies to their customers more quickly.
Within the agreement’s plans to accelerate the rollout of new vehicles, the companies will together leverage their strengths to investigate the joint development and manufacturing of ICE, clean energy, electric, and hydrogen vehicles for passenger and commercial use cases. Beyond vehicles, the OEMs will also review opportunities for combined sourcing across the supply chain – spanning areas such as raw battery materials, steel, and more.
The MoU will also see Hyundai and GM evaluate the ways in which they can drive competitiveness in key markets, segments, and cost efficiencies, while strengthening customer value through their shared experiences and technologies. Following the signing of their non-binding agreement, the OEMs confirmed that they are already beginning to explore pathways towards binding agreements.
A spokesperson for Hyundai confirmed that this was the first such agreement for the OEM, compared to GM who has previously fostered collaborations with a range of OEMs – recently lending its Ultium EV platform to Honda for use in its Prologue electric SUV, for example.
While highlighting the broad scope of the agreement, and detailing which strategic areas it will cover, neither Hyundai or GM confirmed where this work would be conducted, who would oversee it, or when any new products or initiatives spawned from it are expected to roll out.