By Abhirup Roy and Hyunjoo Jin
SAN JOSE, California/SEOUL, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor CEO Jose Munoz warned on Thursday that the US could face a similar wave of Chinese auto imports that has disrupted Europe's car market unless Washington maintains tariffs and other market-access safeguards.
Chinese automakers have rapidly expanded in Europe, eroding the market share and profitability of established manufacturers including Hyundai and Volkswagen by offering vehicles at significantly lower prices.
Munoz said Chinese vehicles are 30% to 40% cheaper than rival models in some markets, including Italy, Spain and France.
That is despite trade barriers including tariffs or minimum pricing commitments that the European Union imposed on Chinese-built electric vehicles after concluding they benefited from unfair state subsidies.
Britain, which left the bloc in 2020, has not introduced similar tariffs.
"The UK, which in the past was a very profitable, very strong market, has become like China," he said in San Jose, California. "All the top sellers are Chinese because there are no barriers."
"So I think we could expect similar things to happen in the US, at different levels, unless there are certain conditions," he said, referring to measures like the EU's tariffs and other market-access requirements.
The share of Chinese-branded cars sold in the EU rose to more than 9% in the first half of this year, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. In Britain, the share was 15% of new car registrations, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed earlier this year.
Brussels is also working on "Made in Europe" rules that will set minimum local content limits for electric vehicles sold in the bloc, forcing Chinese automakers to search for factories in the region.
Munoz said the US needs to impose conditions on Chinese companies "to be able to minimize the impact."
"But the impact is going to be there for sure," he said.
The US effectively blocks imports of Chinese electric vehicles with tariffs of about 100%. President Donald Trump told Fox News last week he would welcome Chinese automakers if they built vehicles in the country.
Munoz echoed warnings from Detroit automakers that Chinese brands could eventually enter the US market. Ford CEO Jim Farley told employees in July that the company was preparing for the possibility of Chinese automakers entering the US within the next 5 to 10 years.
Having run Nissan's China operations roughly a decade ago, Munoz said he is impressed by the speed of the country's automotive advances.
"The level of innovation, the level of improvement, the technology is unbelievable," he said.
COMPANY NEEDS TIME FOR OWN SELF-DRIVING TECHNOLOGY
Asked about delays to Hyundai's in-house Level 2++ advanced driver-assistance system, which is comparable to Tesla's Full Self-Driving system, Munoz said the company needs more time to collect data and validate safety performance.
Hyundai Motor Group pushed back the planned launch of vehicles equipped with its proprietary driver-assistance software to late 2029 from a previous target of late 2027.
In the meantime, Hyundai is working with Nvidia to launch the Level 2+ and Level 2++ equipped vehicles in 2028.
"I don't like delaying anything," Munoz said. "If you're humble, you realize your technology is not good, maybe you need to try a partnership," he added, referring to the Nvidia tie-up.
Still, he said Hyundai ultimately plans to develop its own self-driving vehicles and battery technologies, arguing that vertical integration remains central to the group's strategy.
"We want to internalize," he said. "We may buy things here or there, or have partnerships temporarily, but for relevant technologies like batteries, we want to have our own technology." The group also owns US autonomous-vehicle firm Motional.
(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Jose, California and Hyunjoo Jin in Seoul; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Thomas Derpinghaus)
