Hyundai Motor seeks to reshore $5.9b, boosting production at home

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it plans to bring back to Korea a capital surplus at its foreign units worth a total of $5.9 billion, taking full advantage of the nation’s recent corporate tax revision as well as its upbeat sales abroad in recent years. Under the scheme, the Seoul headquarters plans to boost dividends payouts to foreign units with good performance, including its US and European operations, and the dividends will be invested into expanding production of electric vehicles

June 12, 2023

[Test Drive] G70 roars with sports sedan performance

Genesis, a South Korean luxury auto brand under Hyundai Motor Group, has now upgraded the G70 with a stronger engine. The G70 is the brand’s last sports sedan powered by an internal combustion engine, as the automaker aims to go all-electric by 2030. The exterior and interior of the new Genesis G70 also appeared to undergo small design changes. The attention-grabbing front side of the vehicle features two-line light-emitting diode headlamps and a V-shaped crest grille. The lower front end

June 12, 2023

[Behind the wheel] Toyota Crown Hybrid sets standard for hybrid cars

With the yearslong boycotting of Japan-made products in Korea showing signs of abating, Japanese auto giant Toyota is seeking to turn the tables here with the Crown Hybrid crossover utility vehicle, which shows off its latest technological advancements in combining a combustion engine and electric motor. The Crown was Toyota’s first mass-produced car model, with the longest history of 69 years and its bestselling premium sedan at home. But in Korea, the car has long been absent after it

June 11, 2023

[KH Explains] Mobility alliance win-win for Samsung, Hyundai

South Korea’s top makers of chips and cars, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group, announced their first-ever partnership last week, fueling speculation that their rare tie-up could further extend in the field of future mobility. Under the deal, Samsung will supply automotive chips for Hyundai’s upcoming cars. Since the late 1990s, when Samsung ditched its car-making business, the nation’s two largest conglomerates have distanced themselves from being involved in direct c

June 11, 2023

Hyundai chief vows to learn from past

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun highlighted the importance of learning from the past to prepare for the rapidly changing mobility industry, at the opening ceremony for an exhibition honoring the carmaker’s first mass-produced car, the Pony. “With ChatGPT now a buzzword, artificial intelligence and robotics technology are witnessing exponential growth. Under the circumstances, we need to ask what our purpose of existence and future road map are,” said Chung at t

June 8, 2023

GM Korea to launch all-electric Cadillac Lyriq SUV in H2

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday it will launch the all-electric Cadillac LYRIQ SUV later this year in line with its parent firm's electrification plan. Lyriq is GM's luxury Cadillac brand's first electric model and is powered by GM's Ultium EV battery platform. It is one of 10 electric vehicle models to be released in the South Korean market by the US carmaker by 2025, the company said in a statement. Starting with the Cadillac Lyriq,

June 8, 2023

SK Signet ready for EV charger production in US

SK Signet, the electric vehicle charger maker affiliated with SK Group, said Wednesday it will start production of EV chargers in the US next month with the completion of its new plant in Texas. The new plant will be producing 10,000 units of its 400-kilowatt EV charger per year. It aims to double production capacity to an annual 20,000 units in phases. “By 2025, we look to boost our global sales to 1 trillion won ($768.3 million), compared to last year’s 160 billion won. Our goal is

June 7, 2023

Hyundai to produce Ioniq 5 with Indonesia’s batik design

Hyundai Motor Company will produce limited editions of its popular electric vehicle Ioniq 5 featuring designs of batik, a traditional Indonesian dyeing technique, according to Indonesia’s top envoy in Seoul on Wednesday. Gandi Sulistiyanto, Indonesian ambassador to South Korea, said Indonesia and Hyundai Motor will work together to create an Ioniq 5 embodying the batik design, a UNESCO cultural heritage that has inherited generations of Indonesian culture. According to UNESCO, batik is dye

June 7, 2023

4 firms to recall over 54,000 vehicles over faulty parts

Kia Corp., Volkswagen Group Korea and two other companies will voluntarily recall more than 54,000 vehicles to fix faulty components, the transport ministry said Wednesday. The companies, including Ford Sales & Service Korea and Stellantis Korea, are recalling a combined 54,412 units of nine different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. The problems that prompted the recall include a faulty dashboard software problem in Kia's Ray mini car, a f

June 7, 2023

[Test Drive] All-electric Mercedes-AMG sedans raise bar for performance EVs

Mercedes-AMG, the high-performance brand under German auto giant Mercedes-Benz, is well known for crafting luxurious motorsports-inspired vehicles with monstrous engines. And the brand has kept these signature traits for its EQ lineup, boasting the fastest acceleration among Mercedes EVs. Mercedes-Benz Korea hosted a media test drive at the AMG Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, last week. With a 4.3-kilometer circuit with 17 turns, the AMG Speedway is the world’s first track to bear t

June 7, 2023

Airplane's exit door should not be difficult to open: survey

Despite the recent incident during which a passenger opened the emergency exit door of an Asiana Airlines aircraft before landing, most South Koreans think an airplane's emergency exit should not be difficult to open, a survey found Tuesday. According to a survey of 21,000 respondents by online poll platform Thepol, 44.8 percent (9,500 people) of the respondents said "An airplane's emergency exit door should be able to open quickly and easily during an emergency." Meanwhile,

June 6, 2023

Toyota seeks to win back Korean customers with hybrid Crown

With improved bilateral relations between Korea and Japan, Toyota is seeking a turnaround here with the launch of the Crown Hybrid crossover utility vehicle, an upgraded version of its long-loved flagship sedan. “The Korean market is both worthy of investment and challenging because many customers are car enthusiasts who have high standards,” said Toyota Korea CEO Konyama Manabu, during a press conference on Monday in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. “Compared to 2022, the situation has

June 5, 2023

Ex-BMW designer joins Kia as exterior styling chief

South Korea’s second-biggest carmaker Kia said Monday it has appointed John Buckingham, a UK veteran automotive designer, as the exterior design chief of its next design group. Buckingham has worked in the automotive industry since 2005 when he joined BMW as an exterior designer. While working at the BMW Designworks studio in Los Angeles, he also led the design of the 8 Series concept. Then, he moved to UK luxury carmaker Bentley in 2018 and to Faraday Future, the US-based electric vehicle

June 5, 2023

Hyundai-backed 42dot to set up global software center

42dot, a self-driving mobility unit under Hyundai Motor Group, is setting up a global software center for software defined vehicles, or SDVs, aiming to create a foothold in the burgeoning future mobility business. Users can manage operations and acquire new features for SDVs primarily through software updates. According to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the company received a first-phase investment worth 346.2 billion won ($265.1 million) from the carmaker, who vowed to inject total of 1.5

June 4, 2023

[KH Explains] Hyundai, hit by subsidy cuts in US, bolsters ties with China’s CATL

Hyundai Motor Group seems to be further bolstering its ties with China’s CATL, the world’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles, as part of its renewed strategy to diversify battery suppliers amid increasingly protectionist policies in the US and Europe, according to industry sources Sunday. The latest development comes after the world’s third-largest carmaker by sales has recently been stripped of EV subsidies in the all-important US market under the Inflation Reducti

June 4, 2023

Hyundai unveils face-lifted Palisade SUV

Hyundai Motor Company launched a revamped version of the Palisade in Korea with enhanced safety features on Friday. For the latest Palisade 2024, the automaker introduced a new trim, dubbed Le Blanc, which has been equipped with various customer-preferred specs, including a smart power tailgate, 20-inch wheels, organic leather sheets, wireless smartphone charging and a surround-view monitor. The new Palisade 2024 has also been revamped with new safety features, including blind collision warning

June 2, 2023

[Photo News] Ferrari CEO in Seoul

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna (center) poses with Roma Spider, the Italian luxury carmaker’s latest soft-top convertible, during the Universo Ferrari exhibition which kicked off in Seoul on Thursday. The CEO visited Korea to celebrate the Asia premiere of the exhibition that travels around the world to showcase Ferrari’s 22 most representative cars. On his right is Dieter Knechtel, president of Ferrari's Far East and Middle East, and left is Enrico Galliera, chief marketing an

June 1, 2023

[Photo News] Hyundai hydrogen in China

Hyundai Motor Group on Thursday completed its first overseas hydrogen fuel cell system facility in Guangzhou, China, signifying the South Korean auto giant's global expansion in the hydrogen industry. About 200 Chinese and Korean government officials and business executives, including Hyundai Motor Company CEO Chang Jae-hoon (sixth from left) and Lin Keqing (fifth from left), chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference and secretary of the Guangzhou Municipal Comm

June 1, 2023

Samsung SDI CEO stresses ESG as key future strategy

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI said Thursday an executive meeting was held to bolster environmental, social and governance management efforts. Some 20 top executives, including Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho, joined the workshop held at the company’s headquarters in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province. “ESG management goes beyond corporate’s social responsibility. It is a key strategy to enhancing our competitive edge for the future,” said the CEO in his opening remarks. &ld

June 1, 2023

LG Innotek develops new vehicle lighting module

LG Innotek said Wednesday it has developed a new flexible three-dimensional lighting module for vehicles. Dubbed "Nexlide-M," the product boasts brighter, clearer and more uniform light emission, making it more visible in daylight, the company said. "The Nexlide-M is the whole package -- it has excellent functions and beautiful design," said Yoo In-soo, head of LG Innotek's Motor and Lighting business. In particular, it is able to emit clearer light while with minimal nu

May 31, 2023