Hyundai Motor Company is set to make a significant push into the global robo-taxi market. In the United States, where autonomous taxis are becoming commercialized, the company will begin producing customized vehicles for autonomous driving firms through its 'foundry' business starting in the fourth quarter of this year. Meanwhile, in South Korea, where the market is still developing, Hyundai will accelerate its in-house autonomous driving technology through a dual-track strategy.
Jose Munoz, CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, emphasized on September 17 during the 'Tech Talent Forum 2026' in San Jose, California, that "we will produce tens of thousands of Waymo robo-taxis based on the Ioniq 5 at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia starting in Q4."
By specifying the supply scale as 'tens of thousands,' Munoz indicated that the autonomous vehicle foundry business is poised for significant expansion. The collaboration, which had previously been in the testing and validation phase, will transition to mass production this year.
Hyundai and Waymo formalized their partnership in 2024, establishing the 'autonomous vehicle foundry business.' This involves Hyundai producing and supplying vehicles specifically designed for robo-taxis that align with the technology of autonomous driving companies. The Ioniq 5 will be equipped with Waymo's latest sixth-generation autonomous driving system, the 'Waymo Driver.' Real-world autonomous driving tests have been conducted in major U.S. cities for the past nine months.
Hyundai aims to connect the demand for new vehicles with the U.S. robo-taxi market. By leveraging its mass production capabilities, the automaker believes it can secure a share of the growing robo-taxi market, independent of its competitive edge in autonomous driving technology.
The market expansion has already been anticipated. At the '2026 CEO Investor Day' held last month, Hyundai announced plans to supply the first Ioniq 5 robo-taxis to Waymo in Q4 and to explore international markets for robo-taxi services starting next year. The company intends to extend its foundry business, which began in the U.S., to global markets.
In South Korea, where the market is not yet active, Hyundai is accelerating the internalization of its autonomous driving technology. The Hyundai Motor Group is developing L2+/L2++ autonomous driving technology in collaboration with NVIDIA while also enhancing its own end-to-end (E2E) autonomous driving solution, 'Artria AI.'
By the end of this year, Hyundai plans to deploy 200 Ioniq 5-based autonomous vehicles in Gwangju's autonomous driving demonstration city to validate Artria AI. The company has also been selected as an operator for Seoul's autonomous vehicle transportation platform, gaining experience in dispatching, operation control, and other autonomous driving services.
As the robo-taxi market grows, the role of established automakers with production capabilities and supply chains is expected to increase. Goldman Sachs projects that the number of commercial robo-taxis worldwide will surge from about 7,000 last year to 1 million by 2030 and 6 million by 2035. The market size is expected to reach approximately $415 billion by 2035, with the U.S. market accounting for about 11.6% of that total, or $48 billion.
A Hyundai official stated, "We have been steadily preparing our autonomous vehicle foundry business for the past two years and will continue to expand our related operations in the U.S. through our collaboration with Waymo."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.