Latest News

Sources: GM and Hyundai are in talks about sharing pickups and electric vans with each other in North America.

Sources: GM and Hyundai are in talks about sharing pickups and electric vans with each other in North America.

According to documents and sources familiar with the discussions, Hyundai Motors and General Motors have reached a close agreement to share two commercial vans with the U.S. car giant.

Source: GM could provide Hyundai with pickups to sell under their own brand in North America.

Source: Such agreements could be the start of a larger partnership between the two automakers. Documents reviewed by the source show that Hyundai is looking at deals with GM, including joint development or purchasing of computing chips, batteries next-generation and battery materials.

GM and Hyundai, like many other global automakers are faced with increasing competition from Chinese EV manufacturers and the threat of a worldwide EV ban.

Trade war

Shared products are a great way to cut down on spending.

According to documents and a person familiar with these discussions, Hyundai would manufacture vans that will be sold both under its own brand and GM's, and initially import them from South Korea. Hyundai may manufacture the vans in North America as early as 2028. A person stated that Hyundai is looking at building a new factory, expanding production in an existing facility or outsourcing the manufacturing.

One of the sources stated that the talks about pickups are centered around GM sharing their midsized trucks branded as Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon here in the United States. The source also said that Hyundai wants to sell a full-sized version of GM’s popular pickups. However, GM has not put this option on the table.

The person who spoke to me said that a pickup-sharing agreement would take longer than a commercial van arrangement to be finalized.

Sources said that the automakers were also discussing the possibility that Hyundai could provide GM with compact SUVs to add to their product lineup in Brazil.

Hyundai announced in January it was in discussions to supply electric commercial vehicle to GM. This is part of a pre-agreement to explore ways the automakers can cooperate in areas such as vehicles, supply chain and clean energy technologies in order to reduce costs and accelerate development.

Here are the first details of the partnership discussions, including the possibility of a pickup-sharing deal.

General Motors refused to comment on the specifics of negotiations, but stated in a press release: "Both businesses continue to explore possible areas of collaboration."

Hyundai stated in a press release that no deal has been reached in the ongoing discussions, but that both automakers are looking at deals "across strategic areas."

COMPETITIVE THREATS AND GEOPOLITICAL TENSIONS

Chinese EV manufacturers have revolutionized the auto industry by introducing high-tech and low-cost models. GM, one of many legacy automakers, is losing sales in China - the largest auto market in the world - and aiming to increase revenues elsewhere. Hyundai's China business is small, but the threat from Chinese exports to other countries is real.

Both automakers face geopolitical pressures that are exacerbated by the tariffs levied by or threatened by U.S. president Donald Trump. These could limit their ability to import components and force them to increase U.S. manufacturing.

Two sources with knowledge of the situation say that tariff threats also add uncertainty to the GM and Hyundai partnership talks.

Sam Fiorani is vice president of Auto Forecast Solutions, a research firm. He said that GM could benefit from a commercial van agreement to better compete with Ford Transit and Ram ProMaster, without having to invest in developing its own model.

He said that GM needed new commercial vans because the production of its decades old Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana is set to end soon.

Hyundai has considered sharing its ST1 electric vans, which are compact electric commercial vehicles. According to documents and a source, GM would also get a larger electric van that Hyundai has developed to compete with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Hyundai documents indicate that the two automakers may share their sales and service networks.

Documents state that the smaller van will be assembled initially at Hyundai's Ulsan factory in South Korea and could potentially be supplied to GM beginning in mid-2027. In 2028, the model will be replaced by a larger van that is similar to Hyundai's Solati.

The proposed new North American van factory would aim to produce 60,000 vehicles by 2030, and over 100,000 by 2032.

PICKUP TRUCKS, SMALL SUVS

Hyundai has increased its U.S. Sales while China's sales are declining. It is now a serious competitor to Tesla on the EV Market, along with GM. Hyundai, unlike GM has a small presence in the lucrative U.S. truck and commercial vehicle market.

Fiorani of Auto Forecast Solutions said that Hyundai can leverage the GM partnership in order to gain a foothold where competitors like Toyota and Nissan are struggling to compete with Detroit Three automakers.

One source said that Hyundai is looking to give GM a small SUV called Creta in order to refresh its model line-up in Brazil.

Third source says GM is hoping to partly compensate for its struggles in China by partnering with Hyundai. The person stated that GM could potentially expand into South American markets by using Hyundai's mid-sized and small vehicle platforms. (Reporting from Hyunjoo Ji and Heekyong Ya in Seoul; Norihiko Shrouzu in Austin; Additional reporting in Detroit by Kalea hall; Editing and rewriting by Brian Thevenot, Nia Williams and Nigel Williams).

(source: Reuters)