Hyundai Motor Group and Toray Industries have entered a joint development agreement to work on advanced materials and components intended for future mobility applications.

The collaboration will concentrate on high‑performance composites for use in vehicles and specialised mobility platforms, including lunar exploration rovers and robots.

The agreement was signed at Hyundai Motor Group’s headquarters in Seoul.

Under the deal, Hyundai’s Materials Research & Engineering Center will lead vehicle‑level design, suitability assessments and performance evaluations of the advanced materials and components.

The centre is tasked with developing and validating new body materials for Hyundai.

Toray Group’s global subsidiaries will carry out development and production of carbon‑fibre composites.

Those units include Toray Advanced Materials Korea, Toray Advanced Composites in the Netherlands and Euro Advanced Carbon Fiber Composites in Germany, which focus on intermediate materials and moulded products derived from Toray’s carbon‑fibre technology.

Toray Group Advanced Composites Division general manager Miki Terada said: “The Joint Development Agreement marks a significant step forward in advancing the partnership established in the previous year.

“Leveraging Toray’s unique material technologies and extensive expertise, we will collaborate closely with Hyundai Motor Group to create innovative composite solutions essential for next-generation mobility. From R&D to production and commercialisation, we will work in close coordination to enhance our competitiveness in the global market.”

Through this partnership, Hyundai aims to create market opportunities by collaborating across the value chain from technology development through production and commercialisation in composite materials.

Hyundai Motor Group Global Strategy Office head and executive vice president Heung-soo Kim said: “This agreement marks an important milestone in our partnership, as it represents the first tangible outcome of our strategic collaboration initiated last year.

“By clearly defining our focus areas and combining our respective strengths, we will work closely together across the entire process—from R&D to production and commercialisation—in the field of advanced composite materials, enhancing our ability to respond to market demands.”

Following the cooperation agreement reached in April 2024, the firms have persisted in joint efforts to create composite materials, including carbon fibre-reinforced plastic , to improve safety and performance in mobility.

They have pinpointed particular joint development projects making use of each company’s strengths.