Karmactive Team
General Motors and Hyundai Motor Company are teaming up to create five new vehicles in a major partnership aimed at cutting costs and fending off growing competition from Chinese automakers.
The collaboration, announced on August 6, 2025, marks a significant step in their strategic relationship that began with a framework agreement signed in September 2024.
Four of the jointly developed vehicles will target Central and South American markets, including a compact SUV, car, compact pickup truck, and a mid-size pickup truck. These models will support both traditional gas engines and hybrid power systems.
The fifth vehicle will be an electric commercial van built in the United States for the North American market.
“By partnering together, GM and Hyundai will bring more choice to our customers faster, and at lower cost,” said Shilpan Amin, GM’s senior vice president and global chief procurement and supply chain officer. “These first co-developed vehicles clearly demonstrate how GM and Hyundai will leverage our complementary strengths and combined scale.”
Similar Posts
The companies have divided development responsibilities, with GM leading the mid-size truck platform while Hyundai takes charge of the compact vehicle platforms and electric van. Though sharing common underpinnings, each automaker will create distinct interior and exterior designs for their respective brands.
The partnership targets an ambitious production goal of more than 800,000 vehicles annually once fully operational. The first models are expected to launch in 2028.
For GM, the deal provides access to Hyundai’s hybrid technology expertise. For Hyundai, it offers valuable experience in pickup truck development and strengthens its position in North America.
Industry analysts have mixed views on the partnership. “Hyundai might be able to learn from GM about how to build pickup trucks, but it would take some time to generate earnings,” noted An Hyung-jin, chief investment officer at Billionfold Asset Management in Seoul.
The collaboration extends beyond vehicle development. The companies will pursue joint sourcing initiatives for materials, transport, and logistics across North and South America. They’ve also agreed to explore using low-carbon emissions steel in manufacturing and may expand cooperation to include battery raw materials, components, and complex systems.
This partnership emerges as both automakers face mounting pressure from Chinese manufacturers who have launched high-tech, lower-cost models in global markets. The deal also comes shortly after the United States and South Korea reached a trade agreement for a 15% tariff on U.S. imports from South Korea, including vehicles.
The electric commercial van for North America will be a “smaller sibling” to Chevrolet’s BrightDrop vans, according to Amin. This represents GM’s latest attempt at partnership-based vehicle development after unwinding several projects with Honda over the past decade, including a scrapped $5 billion plan to jointly develop affordable electric vehicles in 2023.
