Hyundai Rotem holds Partners Day, pledges deeper ties with suppliers

Hyundai Rotem held the 2026 Hyundai Rotem Partners Day at Haevichi Hotel & Resort in Seogwipo, Jeju, Thursday through Friday, the company announced Friday.

Partners Day is an annual forum Hyundai Rotem holds to strengthen trust with key suppliers and exchange ideas on mutual cooperation and co-growth. The event has been held since 2005. This year's gathering brought together President and CEO Lee Yong-bae and other senior executives alongside representatives from 100 partner companies.

In his opening remarks, Lee expressed gratitude to the partner firms, saying, "The countless challenges and achievements of the past year were all made possible by your hard work and dedication." He added, "Hyundai Rotem can fulfill its mission only by growing together with our suppliers, and just as we have walked this path together, I hope you will remain our steadfast partners going forward."

At the event, Hyundai Rotem shared the results of its co-growth initiatives across business divisions over the past year and explored ways to deepen collaboration with suppliers. Earlier this year, the company held separate co-growth conferences for each of its three business divisions — AD&RH, RS and EP — to present division-level strategies.

Among the key initiatives, Hyundai Rotem more than doubled the scale of its co-growth fund compared with last year. The fund uses deposits held at financial institutions to provide suppliers with low-interest financing for investment and operating costs upon request. This year the company operated the fund at a total of 150 billion won ($112 million), and through the third quarter had extended 105.9 billion won to 100 partner firms. The company also strengthened financial support through expanded guarantees, unsecured low-interest loans and interest rate reductions.

Hyundai Rotem is also actively supporting suppliers in entering overseas markets alongside the company. In the Queensland electric train supply project in Australia, it helped suppliers establish mechanical facilities locally, while in the Los Angeles Metro project in the United States, it localized electronic components with partner firms. The company plans to continue facilitating joint global market entry with suppliers across its defense and other business lines as localization requirements arise.

In addition, Hyundai Rotem this year introduced its shared performance scheme to the defense sector for the first time. Under the program, suppliers that successfully develop domestically produced components receive 100 percent of the cost savings from localization in the year of first delivery and 50 percent the following year. The scheme rewards suppliers for contributions to winning new overseas contracts. The company plans to extend it to its civilian business divisions in the future.

Hyundai Rotem also expanded education support for supplier employees. Through its professional technical training center, the company offered courses covering quality control, production, design and other job functions, as well as AI applications and work automation to help suppliers keep pace with rapid changes in the industrial environment. Through the third quarter, 4,370 employees from 596 companies had completed technical training, and more than 6,500 are expected to do so by year-end.

The event also included an awards ceremony recognizing 10 partner companies that had built outstanding cooperative relationships in areas such as procurement, quality, security and ESG (environmental, social and governance). A special lecture on AI — a topic of growing importance across industries — was also held to deepen understanding of AI applications in manufacturing and help participants prepare for future industrial shifts.

"Mutual growth with our suppliers has been the foundation that made Hyundai Rotem's growth possible," a company official said. "We are developing and implementing strategies to make our co-growth initiatives more systematic and sophisticated, and we will lead by example in fostering a culture of mutual growth to support the strengthening of our suppliers' capabilities."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Rotem acquired the defense business of Hyundai Wia for approximately 358.4 billion won to build a vertically integrated system spanning complete weapons platforms through to key components such as main guns and gun barrels.

Through the acquisition, Hyundai Rotem aims to add main gun and barrel manufacturing technology to its ground weapons systems — including the K2 tank and wheeled armored vehicles — pursuing vertical integration of its defense business. The company plans to enhance supply stability and price competitiveness through in-house production of core components, while also expanding the range of locally produced items in its overseas export operations.