Hyundai Motor Group Chair Chung Eui-sun visited Saudi Arabia to meet with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and reviewed the Middle East strategy.

Chung Eui-sun, chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, visits Hyundai Motor's Saudi Arabia manufacturing unit (HMMME) on the 26th (local time) to inspect the progress of the new plant construction and review Saudi Arabia sales strategies. The photo shows Chung Eui-sun (center) and José Muñoz (front row, third from left) listening to Park Won-gyun (front row, third from right; head of HMMME) explain the progress of the new Saudi plant construction as they tour the facility. /Courtesy of Hyundai Motor Group

On the 27th (local time), Chung held a one-on-one meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and discussed cooperation on future businesses. Chung and the crown prince met during the prince's visit to Korea in 2022 and again during the presidential trip in 2023, but this was their first one-on-one meeting.

Chung explained to the crown prince the collaboration projects and plans that Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing as a partner to realize Saudi Arabia's future vision. In May, Hyundai Motor Group established a joint venture (HMMME) with sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia and is building a local production plant.

Regarding HMMME, Chung said, "We are building a localized plant equipped with specialized facilities to meet Saudi industrial demand and customer needs," and added, "We will consider expanding capacity in light of future market conditions."

Before meeting the crown prince, on the 26th Chung visited the HMMME construction site in the King Salman Automotive Industry Park. José Muñoz, president of Hyundai Motor, accompanied him. Encouraging local employees, Chung said, "The new production base in Saudi Arabia is a new challenge in the Middle East," and added, "Even in unique environments such as high heat and desert conditions, we must lead the local market with quality and service that exceed customer expectations."

HMMME is Hyundai Motor's first production base in the Middle East. Equity is held 30% by Hyundai Motor and 70% by Saudi sovereign wealth funds. Construction began in May this year with a target start of operations in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the plant will have an annual capacity of 50,000 units, producing electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles on a mixed line.

Meanwhile, after completing a long business trip that started in Japan in the middle of this month and continued to the United States and the Middle East, Chung is scheduled to return to Korea and attend the "2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit" in Gyeongju. The CEO Summit is a side event held ahead of the APEC Leaders' Meeting and is the Asia-Pacific region's largest annual business forum.

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