Hyundai tech excites shareholders at general meeting, but dividend concerns remain

A shareholder poses for a photo in front of a full-scale model of Hyundai Motor Group’s humanoid robot Atlas at the group’s headquarters, where Hyundai Motor Company’s 58th General Meeting of Shareholders was held on March 26. [LEE SU-JEONG]

 
A full-scale model of Atlas, the humanoid robot that drew attention at CES 2026 in the United States this January, greeted shareholders Thursday at the entrance to Hyundai Motor Company’s 58th General Meeting of Shareholders at the company’s headquarters in Yangjae-dong, Seocho District, southern Seoul.
 
The display quickly became one of the venue’s focal points, with shareholders stopping to take photos before heading inside.  
 

 
“We put it here especially for shareholders,” a Hyundai Motor official said.
 
One shareholder, surnamed Jeong, who came on an overnight trip from Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, to attend the meeting, snapped a selfie with Atlas as soon as they received their admission pass.
 
Jeong bought 600 Hyundai Motor shares in April 2025, when the stock was trading in the 180,000 won ($120) range, after learning that the robot system was set to be used at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in the United States. Hyundai Motor held a completion ceremony for the Metaplant in late March 2025 and unveiled the advanced factory.
 
“I invested after seeing the robot system that will be used there,” Jeong said. “It made me think Hyundai Motor’s U.S. business could grow, and labor efficiency could improve.”
 
Attendance at Thursday’s meeting was limited to holders of Hyundai Motor common shares as of Dec. 31, 2025. Hyundai Motor’s stock, which stood at 289,500 won on Dec. 30, 2025, opened at 496,000 won on Thursday.
 

Elementary school student Kim Da-on, aged 9, poses for a photo with a model of the humanoid robot Atlas at Hyundai Motor’s shareholder meeting on March 26. [LEE SU-JEONG]

 
Some shareholders had also gifted shares to their children. Jung Seul-gi, who came from Icheon, Gyeonggi, with 9-year-old son Kim Da-on, said they had submitted a field trip request to his school to attend Hyundai Motor’s shareholder meeting.  
 
“I gifted him the stock because I thought it was something to hold for the long term,” Jung said.
 
The young Kim, who owns shares in Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, smiled as he spoke about his investment. “My return has topped 140 percent,” Kim said.
 
Because Jung bought the stock only this January, they were not eligible to enter the meeting hall. Hyundai Motor instead set up a screen to show the livestream so they could watch.
 
Since Atlas was unveiled, a clearer trend has emerged toward revaluing Hyundai Motor not as a manufacturing company but as a future technology company, raising shareholder expectations.
 

Jose Munoz, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, delivers opening remarks at the company’s 58th General Meeting of Shareholders at its headquarters in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul, on March 26. [HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP]

 
Still, concerns remained.“The year-end dividend was not that large,” Jung said. “There are still risks that need to be resolved, including circular shareholding.”
 
An elderly couple from Seongbuk District, central Seoul, stated they had held the stock for more than 20 years but had not seen gains comparable to semiconductor or other shares.  
 
“We’ve held it for more than 20 years,” they said. “But it hasn’t risen much compared to semiconductor or other stocks. It still has further to go.”
 
A total of 2,809 shareholders were counted at Thursday’s meeting. José Muñoz, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, chaired the session himself and presided over the opening and the approval of agenda items. When Muñoz spoke in English, shareholders listened through simultaneous interpretation devices and asked questions in Korean.
 
Hyundai Motor is strengthening localization and region-specific products. This year, Hyundai Motor plans to produce hybrid vehicles in the United States and launch 20 new models in China over the next five years. In India, it plans to unveil its first locally designed and developed electric sport utility vehicle by next year and is also considering bringing Genesis into the market.
 

An Atlas robot stands on the stage during a Hyundai and Boston Dynamics news conference ahead of the CES tech show in Las Vegas on Jan. 5. [AP/YONHAP]

 
“We are still the company that sells over 4 million vehicles a year, that sets sales records in the most competitive market in the world, and that honors the Korean tradition of treating every customer as sonnim — honored guests,” said Muñoz. “But we are becoming something more.”
 
The company also plans to continue shareholder return policies and other efforts to raise corporate value. Shareholders approved proposals reflecting revisions to the Commercial Act at Thursday’s meeting, including deleting a clause excluding cumulative voting, expanding directors’ duty of loyalty and broadening the separate election of audit committee members, as well as adding automobile rental to the company’s business purposes.  
 
Shareholders also approved the appointment of three inside directors and two outside directors, as well as a plan to dispose of 1,100,884 treasury shares for employee compensation.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY LEE SU-JEONG [[email protected]]