Compumachine sold Hyundai machine tools to New England shops for about thirty years. From 2008 we were Hyundai WIA’s exclusive New England distributor, and Dave Shaby chaired its dealer council. We know these machines and the shops that run them.

In 2025 Hyundai sold its machine-tool business. It now runs on its own as WIA Machine Tools Corp. Our dealership ended in April 2026. In our experience, WIA has not kept the commitments it made to us when it ended.

What has changed at WIA since the sale

Hyundai no longer stands behind the machines. Hyundai WIA split off the machine-tool division and sold it for ₩340 billion (roughly $240 million). The owners are Rylson Private Equity (65.2%) and the machine-tool maker SMEC (34.8%). Private-equity funds buy companies to sell them again, and Korean press reported in 2025 that Rylson was already weighing how it will exit. The company behind your machine could change hands again during its working life.

Its part-owner is in a court fight for control. SNT Group became SMEC’s largest shareholder and declared it wants a say in running the company. In 2026 the two sides have been through several rounds in Changwon District Court, and on October 7, 2026 SNT told SMEC shareholders it may “fully reconsider” its stance. SMEC’s own filings show its WIA stake, bought for ₩113.1 billion, carried at ₩39.3 billion at the end of 2025.

It barely makes money. In its first seven months on its own (June to December 2025), WIA made ₩1.0 billion of operating profit on ₩156.9 billion of sales: a 0.66% margin. At the end of 2025 it owed ₩322.9 billion against ₩74.3 billion of net assets. In fairness, WIA’s CEO says first-half 2026 sales rose about 36%.

Nobody says who builds the lathes, or where. In 2024 Hyundai WIA sold the machinery at its Changwon production unit to contract builders. WIA’s 2025 audit lists its own production machinery at ₩2,000 (under $2). Its June 2026 catalogue for the LV4500 and LV8500 vertical lathes lists offices in Korea but no factory. No public source names the company that builds WIA’s lathes, or the country they are built in.

If you are quoting a WIA machine, get these in writing

Which company builds this exact machine, and in which country?
A photo of the build plate, and the acceptance test at that plant.
Who honours the warranty and supplies parts if WIA is sold again?
Guaranteed parts availability, in years.
Who services it in New England, and how fast?

Download the one-page buyer's brief (PDF)

If you are weighing a WIA quote, call us. We will tell you what we know.

Sources

Read October 2026. Korean amounts as reported; dollar figures approximate. Compumachine sells machines that compete with WIA.

Korea Herald, October 2026 (recaps the 2025 sale): koreaherald.com
Seoul Economic Daily TV, 2025-07-16 (owners and stakes): sentv.co.kr
Seoul Economic Daily, 2025-07-16 (Rylson’s exit): sedaily.com
Hankyung, 2026-10-07 (SNT and SMEC; the August 12 court ruling): hankyung.com
Seoul Economic Daily, 2026-03-17 and 2026-03-31 (court rulings, shareholder vote): sedaily.com, sedaily.com
Bloter, 2026-03-24, from DART filings (SMEC’s WIA stake; WIA’s liabilities): bloter.net
Dealsite, 2026-05-04, from WIA’s audit (margin): dealsite.co.kr
Dealsite, CEO interview, 2026-07-27 (first-half 2026 sales): dealsite.co.kr
Seoul Economic Daily, 2024-07-12 (Changwon machinery sold to contract builders): sedaily.com
WIA Machine Tools 2025 audit report, DART filing 20260331000078: dart.fss.or.kr
WIA Machine Tools, LV4500/8500 series catalogue, edition 2026-06