Daedong wins KRW 11bn AI-factory project for a 55 kW autonomous electric farm platform
Daegu city said on Oct 20 that two local projects won places in the industry ministry's 2026 AI Factory leading programme: Daedong's KRW 11.04bn, 2026 to 2030 effort to build a 55 kW electric, autonomous farm-work platform and SL Corp.'s KRW 7.65bn headlamp line with 3D vision and articulated-robot assembly. State funding totals KRW 11.68bn of KRW 18.69bn.
Korean tractor maker Daedong will lead a KRW 11.04 billion state-backed project to build a 55 kW electric farm-work platform that drives and works on its own, Daegu city said in a press release on Oct 20. The project is one of two from Daegu chosen for the industry ministry's 2026 AI Factory leading programme, a national R&D scheme for manufacturing equipment in Korea's core industries.
The second Daegu project puts robots on a car-lighting line. Together the two carry KRW 18.69 billion of budget, KRW 11.68 billion of it from the national government, and the city said it is the third consecutive year a Daegu project has been picked.
What Daedong has committed to build
The Daedong project runs from 2026 to 2030, with KRW 7.0 billion of state money and KRW 4.04 billion from the private partners. Its four work packages, as listed by the city, are a farm platform built on a 55 kW electric powertrain; sensor-fusion autonomous driving and autonomous field-work control; automatic recognition and control of attached implements with a high-precision implement interface; and digital-twin performance testing. The goal is a commercial basis for an electric, unmanned platform that can handle at least four jobs: spraying, mowing, rotary tilling and hauling.
The consortium includes group companies Daedong Gear and Daedong Agtech, three component and electronics suppliers and Chungnam National University.
The headlamp line and its robots
SL Corp., an automotive lighting maker, leads the second project with Daegu Technopark, MI Cube Solution, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, the Korea Textile Machinery Convergence Research Institute and Nanosystems. From 2026 to 2028 it will spend KRW 7.65 billion (KRW 4.68 billion state, KRW 0.52 billion city, KRW 2.45 billion private) to link injection moulding, surface treatment and assembly data in real time, predict quality and equipment failures with AI, assemble with 3D vision and articulated robots, and test the line in a digital twin before building it at SL's Daegu plant. The stated target is to cut defect rates by at least half.
- 55 kW electric autonomous farm-work platform
- Daedong
- 2026 to 2030
- 110.4
- 70.0
- 0
- 40.4
- AI autonomous headlamp manufacturing and quality prediction
- SL Corp.
- 2026 to 2028
- 76.5
- 46.8
- 5.2
- 24.5
- Total
- No data
- No data
- 186.9
- 116.8
- 5.2
- 64.9
Source: Daegu Metropolitan City press release, Oct 20, 2026. Totals checked: 110.4 + 76.5 = 186.9; state 70.0 + 46.8 = 116.8 (62.5% of total). The release rounds the total to KRW 18.7bn.
As of Oct 20, 2026
MEKAWIRE analysis
The money is small, but it is the second state programme in a week built around a 55 kW Daedong electric platform, which makes the machine look like the default Korean public bet for autonomous farm hardware.
On Oct 15 MEKAWIRE reported that Daedong's 55 kW autonomous electric tractor won a slot in the K-GX green-transition programme. In September Daedong was named to lead a KRW 43.1 billion project to put Korean on-device AI chips into unmanned farm robots by 2030. The Daegu release does not say whether the AI Factory platform is the same machine as the K-GX tractor, so the overlap is our observation, not a stated fact.
The counter-argument is scale: KRW 7.0 billion of state money over five years is about KRW 1.4 billion a year, a pilot budget rather than an industrial policy. The test is whether a commercial electric autonomous platform reaches dealers before 2030.
What to watch
- The ministry's full list of 2026 AI Factory leading projects and budgets.
- Daedong's next product announcement on the 55 kW electric platform.
- SL Corp.'s first defect-rate results from the Daegu line.
- KRW 18.69bn, of which KRW 11.68bn national funding
- Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources 2026 AI Factory leading project (national R&D)
- 55 kW electric, autonomous farm-work platform; 2026 to 2030; KRW 11.04bn (KRW 7.0bn state, KRW 4.04bn private)
- Halve defect rates on the Daegu plant's production line
- AI-based autonomous manufacturing of car headlamps; 2026 to 2028; KRW 7.65bn (KRW 4.68bn state, KRW 0.52bn city, KRW 2.45bn private)
- Daedong Gear, Daedong Agtech, three component suppliers, Chungnam National University
Why it matters
Korea is funding the same class of machine through several channels: a 55 kW electric, autonomous farm platform led by Daedong. For suppliers of electric drivetrains, sensors and implement controls, these projects define the specification Korean public money is paying for.
Rival analysis
Within Korea, Daedong is the only tractor maker named in this round. The release does not mention TYM or LS Mtron. The project's consortium is made up of Daedong group companies, component suppliers and one university, so it strengthens Daedong's own supply chain rather than an open platform.
Valuation context
State funding of KRW 7.0bn over five years is small next to Daedong's other state-backed projects tracked by MEKAWIRE, such as the KRW 43.1bn on-device AI chip project for unmanned farm robots (September 2026).
Supply-chain implications
Daedong Gear and Daedong Agtech are group companies; three outside component and electronics suppliers complete the consortium. The 55 kW electric powertrain is the core part, and the release names no battery or motor supplier.
Signals to watch
The ministry's full selection list; whether the AI Factory platform and the K-GX tractor are the same product; first field trials of the four implements (spraying, mowing, tilling, hauling).
Analyst view
Thesis: the 55 kW electric platform is becoming Korea's default public bet in autonomous farm hardware. Confidence: low to medium, because the release does not link the projects. A ministry list showing rival tractor makers with similar projects would weaken the view.
Questions you should be asking
Is the AI Factory platform the K-GX tractor? Which battery and motor suppliers does Daedong use? What share of the KRW 4.04bn private contribution comes from Daedong itself?