Seoul: Hyundai Motor Group has taken significant steps to advance its software-defined factory (SDF) strategy and enhance its capabilities in procuring robot components. The group has established dedicated units focused on these areas as part of a broader initiative to deploy Atlas humanoid robots at its auto manufacturing facilities, industry sources revealed.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the group has recently created a position responsible for overseeing its SDF initiative and appointed Alpesh Patel, the chief innovation officer at Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore, to lead the effort. The SDF concept involves using artificial intelligence (AI) to control and manage production, quality, and logistics operations through software, marking a pivotal step in applying this strategy across Hyundai's global manufacturing network.
Earlier announcements by Hyundai Motor Group outlined plans to establish facilities capable of producing 30,000 humanoid robots annually by 2028, with the deployment of 25,000 robots across Hyundai and Kia manufacturing plants. The Atlas robot, developed by Hyundai's U.S. subsidiary Boston Dynamics Inc. and unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, will begin handling parts sequencing operations at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Georgia starting in 2028, with an expected expansion to parts assembly work by 2030. The company also intends to gradually extend robot deployment to new factories in India and South Korea.
In a separate development, Hyundai Motor Group has set up a new office dedicated to robotics component procurement, led by Soh Hyun-seong, formerly the head of strategic planning at Beijing Hyundai. This move is seen as an effort to strengthen parts procurement capabilities and improve cost competitiveness, particularly as Boston Dynamics enters mass production of the Atlas robot. Moreover, Boston Dynamics has requested Hyundai Mobis Co., the group's auto parts affiliate, to collaborate on mass-producing six key components for the next-generation Atlas humanoid robot.