Hyundai Mobis on the 27th formalized the sale of its lamp business unit. The intention is to exit the lamp business, which accounts for a small share of sales, and reorganize the portfolio around software-centered future mobility.
Hyundai Mobis disclosed that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a transaction in the lamp business segment with French auto parts maker OP Mobility. Since early last year, Hyundai Mobis has been in contact with multiple corporations to sell the lamp business segment, which had low profitability, and this MOU formalizes the sale talks. Hyundai Mobis and OP Mobility will begin full-fledged negotiations starting today with the goal of signing a main contract in the first half of this year. Details such as the size of the contract will be decided in the negotiations.
Hyundai Mobis moved to sell the lamp business segment to streamline management. As Hyundai Motor Group shifts its mobility business toward electrification and software-defined vehicles (SDVs), the company aims to shed less competitive businesses and further build capabilities in future and growth areas. A Hyundai Mobis official said, "We determined that strengthening business competitiveness and profitability would be difficult with a portfolio centered on past internal combustion engine parts, and that it would be hard to secure sustainable future growth."
Within Hyundai Mobis, the lamp division was reportedly underperforming relative to investment. Because lamp parts are customized due to differing designs and specifications by model, making standardization difficult, Hyundai Mobis has regarded it as a business segment where generating large revenue is difficult. It is also seen to have suffered worsening profitability as it lost ground to Chinese companies leading with low-price strategies.
OP Mobility, by contrast, is an auto parts company with 150 production sites in 28 countries worldwide, and its annual sales in 2024 reached €11.65 billion (about 20 trillion won). OP Mobility is said to be highly interested in strengthening its lamp business. In particular, if the lamp segments of Hyundai Mobis and OP Mobility are combined, the companies' bases would merge, expanding the business scale and enabling economies of scale. Technological competitiveness and market power are also expected to rise.
Hyundai Mobis has said at venues such as CEO Investor Day that it "will focus capabilities on future core businesses and products and shift to a sales structure centered on high value-added areas." The company plans to use the resources secured through this to make focused investments in future growth businesses such as electrification parts to enhance competitiveness.