Hyundai Motor Group and Toray Group Strengthen Ties to Develop Advanced Materials for Future Mobility

• Hyundai Motor Group and Toray Group to develop advanced materials for future mobility, including high-performance vehicles and special-purpose mobility
• Hyundai Motor Group will carry out vehicle-level design, performance evaluation and suitability assessments of advanced materials and components
• Toray Group will focus on developing intermediate materials and molded products based on its carbon fiber technologies
• The two companies will collaborate across the entire value chain in the field of high-performance composites, from R&D to production and commercialization

Hyundai Motor Group and Toray Industries, Inc. (Toray Group) signed a Strategic Joint Development Agreement to collaborate on advanced materials and components innovation, aiming to set new standards in future mobility.

The signing ceremony took place on October 24 at Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in Seoul, Korea. Key attendees included Heung-soo Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Strategy Office at Hyundai Motor Group and Miki Terada, General Manager of Advanced Composites Division at Toray Group.

“This agreement marks an important milestone in our partnership, as it represents the first tangible outcome of our strategic collaboration initiated last year,” said EVP Kim. “By clearly defining our focus areas and combining our respective strengths, we will work closely together across the entire process—from R&D to production and commercialization—in the field of advanced composite materials, enhancing our ability to respond to market demands.”

Miki Terada, General Manager of Advanced Composites Division at Toray Group, also commented that “The Joint Development Agreement marks a significant step forward in advancing the partnership established in the previous year. Leveraging Toray’s unique material technologies and extensive expertise, we will collaborate closely with Hyundai Motor Group to create innovative composite solutions essential for next-generation mobility. From R&D to production and commercialization, we will work in close coordination to enhance our competitiveness in the global market.”

Building on the strategic cooperation agreement signed in April 2024, the two companies have continued to work together to develop high-performance composite materials, such as carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP), to enhance safety and performance in mobility.

Since then, the two companies have identified projects that maximize synergy through close collaboration and have outlined concrete plans for joint development by leveraging their respective strengths.

The newly signed agreement represents a major step forward in their collaboration, accelerating the development of advanced materials and components for future mobility, including high-performance vehicles as well as special-purpose mobility such as lunar exploration rovers and robots.

Hyundai Motor Group aims to accelerate innovation in future mobility and create new market opportunities through close collaboration with Toray Group across the entire value chain—from technology development to production and commercialization—in the field of high-performance composite materials.

As part of this effort, Hyundai Motor Group will carry out vehicle-level design, suitability assessments and performance evaluations of advanced materials and components through its Materials Research & Engineering Center, which is responsible for developing and validating new body materials.

The development and production of carbon fiber composites will be carried out by Toray Group’s global subsidiaries: Toray Advanced Materials Korea, Toray Advanced Composites in the Netherlands and Euro Advanced Carbon Fiber Composites in Germany. These entities focus on developing intermediate materials and molded products based on Toray Group’s carbon fiber technology.