Hyundai Motor Group is pushing artificial intelligence across its entire business, from crash testing and factory operations to customer service and repairs, the South Korean automaker said Wednesday. The companywide transformation, detailed at an AI event in Seoul, builds on a digital overhaul that began in 2019 and now touches more than 30,000 employees.
Executive Chair Chung Euisun first called for Hyundai to become a next-generation mobility company in 2018. Since then, the group has built the digital infrastructure to make that possible: standardized data pipelines that connect research and development, manufacturing, quality control and sales, plus cloud-based collaboration tools used across the company. Since last year, employees have had access to H Chat Pro, an internal Generative AI and LLM platform that lets staff choose among models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
Hyundai Motor and Kia's core office and research staff already use the service at a rate of about 80 percent, representing more than 30,000 employees.
Faster crash tests, cheaper factories
Measurable gains are showing up on the factory floor and in engineering. An AI assistant introduced at Hyundai's Namyang R&D center late last year searches past crash-test results, images, and analysis data, reducing the time needed to find and review relevant information by about 90 percent.
At Hyundai and Kia production sites worldwide, an AI-powered recognition system reads vehicle identification numbers and checks them against registration data in real time, creating annual savings of 5.2 billion won - roughly $3.8 million. Another system uses AI to optimize parts delivery, cutting unnecessary downtime by 86 percent.
AI cuts customer response time 86 percent
AI is reshaping how Hyundai handles customer interactions. A large-language model system used at overseas repair sites has reduced response times. The most direct win for the AI for customer support audience: AI-assisted handling of customer reviews cut average processing time from 35 minutes to five minutes, an 86 percent reduction.
Hyundai is now moving toward what it calls "physical AI," combining artificial intelligence with vehicles, robotics, and manufacturing to support autonomous driving. The company plans to build an AI data center as part of this push, with capacity expected to reach significant levels by 2030.
"Our goal is for Hyundai Motor Group to become the company that makes the best use of AI anywhere in the world," said Jin Eun-sook, president and head of ICT at Hyundai Motor and Kia. "The data, operational experience and execution capabilities we have accumulated through AI transformation will provide the foundation for the coming era of physical AI."
Why this matters for customer support professionals
Hyundai's experience shows that large organizations can cut customer response times by over 80 percent using existing AI tools. The same kind of AI that handles parts delivery and crash test data can read and respond to customer feedback at scale. For people in customer support roles, the fight to rationalize automation investment just got an clearer global benchmark: a major automaker cut review processing time from 35 minutes to five minutes, and is now betting its entire production line on the same technology.
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