An Jung-gu, chairman of the K-Mobility Bridge Foundation, delivers a welcome address at the 2026 Summer Automotive Parts Industry Development Strategy Seminar held Tuesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seoul Pangyo. [K-Mobility Bridge Foundation]
An Jung-gu, chairman of the K-Mobility Bridge Foundation, delivers a welcome address at the 2026 Summer Automotive Parts Industry Development Strategy Seminar held Tuesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seoul Pangyo. [K-Mobility Bridge Foundation]

Leaders from the automotive parts industry gathered to discuss how to harness AI for productivity gains and strengthen cooperation across the industrial ecosystem. As the shift toward electrification and software-defined vehicles accelerates, a broad consensus emerged that parts suppliers must simultaneously improve cost competitiveness and execution capability.

The K-Mobility Bridge Foundation held the 2026 Summer Automotive Parts Industry Development Strategy Seminar on Tuesday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seoul Pangyo. About 300 industry officials and parts company executives attended.

The seminar ran under the theme "Competition and Coexistence: Conditions for Future Competitiveness." Key topics included how to apply AI technology to production sites and business management, and how to build a cooperative structure that allows automakers and parts suppliers to grow together.

The automotive industry is navigating a confluence of challenges: fluctuating electric vehicle demand, price competition from Chinese manufacturers, the shift to software-defined vehicles, and a reshaping of global supply chains. For parts suppliers in particular, improving productivity through AI and diversifying their business portfolios have emerged as critical tasks that go beyond simply competing for supply contracts.

In his welcome address, foundation chairman An Jung-gu said the business environment is changing rapidly due to technological innovation centered on electrification and software, the spread of AI, and the restructuring of global supply chains. "What matters most now is not just reading the direction of change, but having the execution capability to turn that change into a competitive advantage," he said.

An said rising raw materials and energy costs, along with intensifying global competition, are increasing the management burden on companies. "Improving productivity and securing cost competitiveness are becoming essential conditions for corporate survival," he said. "AI is rapidly establishing itself as a core tool for raising efficiency across production sites and overall management."

An said the industry is entering an era where productivity and execution capability determine competitiveness regardless of company size. Companies need a strategy not merely to keep pace with technological change, but to translate it into tangible business results, he said. He also identified building an industrial ecosystem — one in which automakers and suppliers, large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, can grow together — as a key priority.

The first session featured a presentation by Son Jin-ho, chief executive of Algorithm Labs, titled "How Should Parts Suppliers Start Their AI Transformation?" Son said AI adoption must go beyond making work more convenient and must lead to gains in productivity and profitability. He also introduced methods parts suppliers can use to strengthen execution capability through AI, drawing on case studies from global manufacturing companies.

The second session featured a lecture by professor Choi Jae-cheon on "Conditions for Organizations That Survive in an Era of Competition and Coexistence." Choi drew comparisons between natural ecosystems and corporate ecosystems, explaining that the competitiveness of a sustainable organization stems from diversity and cooperation. He also emphasized the importance of "co-opetition" — combining competition and collaboration.

Following the sessions, a Hyundai Motor Group mutual-growth agreement ceremony was held. With representatives from the Korea Fair Trade Commission, Hyundai Motor Group and partner companies in attendance, first- and second-tier suppliers presented best-practice cases, and the parties signed an agreement to strengthen supply chain competitiveness and foster a co-prosperity ecosystem.

"The automotive industry cannot grow on competition alone," An said. "Building a foundation where automakers and suppliers, large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises, can grow together is what matters most."

He added that he hopes Tuesday's agreement will further solidify the foundation for automakers and suppliers to grow together and serve as a starting point for the industry to create new opportunities. "The foundation will do its utmost to serve as a bridge connecting the parts industry, the government, automakers and the various other stakeholders in the industry," he said.

The seminar was co-hosted by the K-Mobility Bridge Foundation and the HMG Management Research Institute, with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Hyundai Motor Group. The foundation said it plans to continue exchange programs aimed at helping the automotive parts industry adapt to industrial change and strengthen its competitiveness.

The K-Mobility Bridge Foundation is a nonprofit public-interest organization established in 2002 through contributions from Hyundai Motor Group and 164 parts companies. It has expanded its role from supporting the automotive parts industry to covering the broader mobility sector, serving as an industrial platform that connects parts suppliers, automakers, the government and related institutions.


kwater@heraldcorp.com