By Hyunjoo Jin
SEOUL, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Group plans to unveil a multi-billion-dollar investment in South Korea's west coast, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday, as the auto group expands into artificial intelligence for autonomous driving and robotics.
Shares in Hyundai Motor surged 10.5% and affiliate Kia soared 15% on Wednesday, after media reports on the automakers' potential 10 trillion won ($7 billion) investments in the Saemangeum area over the next
five years.
A second source said the investment involves robotics, an AI data centre and hydrogen infrastructure.
A Hyundai Motor spokesperson declined to comment.
In November, Hyundai Motor Group said it will invest a total of 125.2 trillion won in South Korea from 2026 to 2030, after Seoul finalised a trade deal reducing U.S. tariffs on South Korean autos to 15% from 25%.
At the time, its Executive Chair Euisun Chung pledged to pursue a "hydrogen, AI city" in the renewable-energy-rich coastal region.
The region is a strong support base for South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, a liberal who has encouraged companies and government agencies to invest in areas outside Seoul.
The investment plan comes after Hyundai Motor Group unveiled a deal in October to buy up to 50,000 AI chips from Nvidia and build an "AI factory" to accelerate development of in-vehicle AI, autonomous driving, smart factories and robotics.
Hyundai Motor Group, which owns humanoid robotics company Boston Dynamics, also said in January that it aims to establish production capacity for 30,000 robot units annually by 2028.
($1 = 1,437.7800 won)
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, Additional reporting by Joyce Lee;Editing by Ed Davies, Jacqueline Wong and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
