Humanoid Robot Boom Lifts South Korea Auto Parts Makers, Boosting Sales and Jobs

Atlas begins a series of backflips. [Photo=Hyundai Motor]

As the humanoid robot market shows signs of taking off, South Korea’s auto parts industry is also seeing a lift. Expanding investment by major automakers, including Hyundai Motor, is creating spillover benefits for suppliers. The shift from internal-combustion vehicles to EVs had raised concerns about job losses, but the industry is now also looking at potential net hiring tied to new businesses.

Industry officials said Monday that Hyundai Mobis surpassed 60 trillion won in annual revenue for the first time last year, helped by the start of operations at its North American electrification plant and rising output of higher value-added parts such as automotive electronics.

Hyundai Motor’s push beyond electrification into new areas such as robotics is also expected to benefit Hyundai Mobis. Hyundai Motor Group said it will allocate 71.1% of its planned 125.2 trillion won in domestic investment from this year through 2030 to future businesses including robots and EVs. In the U.S., it plans to invest $26 billion (about 37.7 trillion won) through 2028. Boston Dynamics is set to begin mass production of the humanoid Atlas in 2028.

Hyundai Mobis set up a robotics business unit last year and has begun hiring development and manufacturing-technology staff. A Hyundai Mobis official said the company is recruiting talent to develop actuators, a core component for robots, adding that large-scale investment across the industry could make robotics a key source of income.

Hyundai Motor’s autonomous mobility robot platform, MobED. MobED won a CES 2026 Best of Innovation award. [Photo=Hyundai Motor]

Other suppliers are also seeking entry into robotics and other new businesses by building on their existing strengths. SL, an auto parts company based in Daegu, is expected to see revenue growth as it takes charge of assembling Hyundai Motor’s mobile logistics robot, MobED.

MobED is set to begin mass production and sales starting in the first quarter of this year, with a sales target of 10,000 to 15,000 units by 2029. Annual revenue is estimated at about 150 billion to 200 billion won, with part of that expected to be reflected in SL’s results as a contract manufacturer.

An SL official said robot parts are not far removed from the company’s electrification-related auto parts technology, adding that SL plans to expand the business based on its long-standing relationship with Hyundai Motor.

SL’s consensus operating profit estimate for this year is 418.5 billion won, up 2.8% from last year’s 407.1 billion won.

The industry’s restructuring is also showing up in employment data. According to the Korea Employment Information Service report, “Industry and Job Transition Map for Auto Parts Manufacturing,” the number of workers in domestic auto parts manufacturing stood at 250,700 as of June last year, up 4,100 from a year earlier. The number of businesses was 8,668, an increase of 334 from 2020.

Industry officials said automakers’ investment in future businesses is feeding through to job creation among suppliers. As demand for internal-combustion parts shrinks and the sector shifts toward electronics and software, hiring is also moving toward technology-focused roles.

Moon Hak-hoon, a professor in the Department of Future Automobiles at Osan University, said employment gains may have been driven by new-business demand from global automakers, adding that hiring for research and development to expand into areas such as robotics is likely to continue for some time.

* This article has been translated by AI.

Oh Jooseok farbrother@ajunews.com