CATL reduces gap with LG Energy Solution

South Korean battery makers are feeling the heat from the surge of Chinese competition, as Chinese battery giant CATL continues to expand its global presence outside its home turf. According to Korean market tracker SNE Research on Thursday, CATL’s worldwide battery usage outside China reached 64 gigawatt-hours from January to September this year, jumping 104.9 percent from the same period last year. The Chinese company’s global market share rose by almost 7 percentage points to be o

Nov. 9, 2023

[Herald Interview] South Carolina joins race to lure Korean battery makers

Amid intensifying competition among US states to attract Korean battery makers' job-creating production bases, South Carolina and its largest metropolitan region, Charleston, have put their hats in the ring to seek possible business opportunities riding high on the boom in vehicles fueled by the new energy source. “We’ve discussed potential partnerships with (some of the) Korean battery manufacturers like LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On,” said Joseph Affsprung, g

Nov. 9, 2023

Renault Korea CEO pledges to accelerate future mobility transition

Renault Korea Motors CEO Stephane Deblaise has pledged to ramp up the transition to electric vehicles with cutting-edge hybrid car technologies, the company said Wednesday. With additional investments, the company will add hybrid cars to its Busan plant production lineup, Deblaise was quoted as saying at the Invest Korea Summit 2023 that wrapped up Wednesday in Busan. No time frame was mentioned. Under the vision of a “thriving automotive tech company,” the CEO added the carmaker has

Nov. 8, 2023

Samsung SDI, Volvo Trucks vow to enhance battery partnership

Samsung SDI said Tuesday it is bolstering ties with Volvo Trucks as the two companies celebrate the fifth anniversary of their partnership this year. Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho and Martin Lundstedt, CEO and president of Volvo Group, as well as other company officials participated in the celebratory event held at the Korean battery maker’s Cheonan plant in South Chungcheong Province last month. Aside from battery-powered trucks, the two vowed to enhance their partnership on constructi

Nov. 7, 2023

SK On to supply EV batteries to Polestar from 2025

South Korean battery maker SK On said Monday it has clinched a deal with Swedish carmaker Polestar to supply its premium electric vehicle batteries. Under the agreement, the battery manufacturer will supply nickel, manganese and cobalt (NCM) batteries for the Polestar 5, the full-electric version of the carmaker's four-door coupe, from 2025. The size of the deal was not disclosed. The company said the partnership shows that the demand for high-performance NCM batteries is still high in the

Nov. 6, 2023

Hyundai to develop own cheaper batteries for EVs

Hyundai Motor Group is expected to develop its own price-competitive lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries for electric vehicles late next year to reduce dependence on China-made batteries, industry sources said Monday. According to media reports, under the two-year joint project with Korea-based battery makers that started this year, Hyundai will complete development of LFP batteries in 2024. The batteries will be installed in Hyundai and Kia’s small and entry-level electric cars and

Nov. 6, 2023

[Test Drive] Upgraded Polestar 2 dons Iron Man mask

The upgraded Polestar 2 offers longer driving distance with stronger performance and looks to woo trend-conscious, younger customers with a more minimalistic design than ever. The Korea Herald had a chance to check out the Swedish electric vehicle maker’s newest product in the country during a test drive over a course of about 100 kilometers last week. The EV was launched in the country on Oct. 26. The upgraded Polestar 2 inherits the design philosophy of the Polestar 3, the brand’s

Nov. 6, 2023

Hyundai, Kia report robust EV US sales, shrug off impact of IRA

Hyundai Motor Group reported robust growth in electric vehicle sales in the US this year, shrugging off the impact of not being eligible for consumer tax credits for EVs under the Inflation Reduction Act. According to the carmaker Sunday, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 77,772 EVs in the US during the January-October period this year, a 53.7 percent surge from a year ago. Hyundai alone sold 51,563 vehicles, more than doubling from the same period last year. The carmaker’s cumulative EV sal

Nov. 5, 2023

Volvo expands presence in Korean market

Volvo is putting the pedal to the metal as it inches closer and closer to overtaking Audi’s third place in South Korea’s auto import market that has long been led by the three German brands: Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association’s monthly report released Friday, the Swedish automaker sold 1,263 units in the country in October. Audi which sold 1,141 vehicles in the same period. With that, Volvo Cars Korea became the

Nov. 3, 2023

KG Mobility, BYD bolster ties on EV batteries, hybrids

KG Mobility, formerly known as Ssangyong Motor, has clinched a deal with China-based electric vehicle maker BYD to set up a new EV battery pack manufacturing plant and develop a hybrid car system in Korea. KG Mobility Chairman Kwak Jae-sun, KG Mobility CEO Chung Yong-won, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu, BYD subsidiary FinDreams Battery Chairman He Long and other executives from the two companies participated in the signing ceremony held at BYD's headquarters in Shenzhen, China on Wednesday. &ldq

Nov. 2, 2023

Kia unveils ‘tiger-faced’ new K5

Hyundai Motor Group’s Kia on Thursday unveiled The New K5, the third generation model of its bestselling midsized sedan, setting an ambitious sales target of more than 30,000 units at home in the first year. “More than 6,000 K5 cars were preordered since Oct. 25, with hybrid models taking up the biggest portion, followed by gasoline models,” said Choi Yang-suk, head of the domestic marketing team at Kia, during a press conference held in Seoul on Wednesday. “Although the

Nov. 2, 2023

[Photo News] Final sprint for Busan Expo

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday that it has begun a monthlong campaign in Paris to support Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030 by playing a promotional video on 270 digital screens across famous locations and shopping malls in the French capital. Members of the Bureau International des Expositions will vote to decide the host city of the global mega event on Nov. 28. in Paris. Saudi Arabia's Riyadh and Italy's Rome are vying to host the Expo. (Hyundai Motor Group)

Nov. 2, 2023

[Photo News] Mercedes meets Haute couture

Mercedes-Benz Korea on Monday unveiled the Mercedes-Maybach S 680 4MATIC Haute Voiture Edition, a limited special edition model inspired by high-end fashion, for the first time in the country. Only 150 units of the special edition of the German automaker's most prestigious vehicle have been produced worldwide. Of them, 20 have been allocated to Korea, the world's second-largest market for the Maybach. The luxury vehicle's price begins at 590 million won ($437,000). (Mercedes-Benz

Oct. 30, 2023

[Herald Interview] Hyundai Motor takes step-by-step approach in Japan

YOKOHAMA, JAPAN -- South Korea’s leading automaker Hyundai Motor aims to expand its presence in Japan with patience as the market is known for its tough-to-enter nature due to the overwhelming dominance of the country’s homegrown brands such as Honda, Nissan and Toyota. “Since we started taking orders in May last year and began to deliver cars in August, we have sold over 700 vehicles as of August this year,” said Cho Won-sang, CEO of Hyundai Mobility Japan, in an intervi

Oct. 29, 2023

Hyundai Motor’s yearly earnings hit record-high W20tr in Q3

With upbeat earnings in the third quarter, Hyundai Motor Group's yearly operating revenue has surpassed the 20 trillion won ($14.8 billion) mark, the company’s earnings report showed Friday. The South Korean auto giant’s Hyundai and Kia brands hit a combined 20.8 trillion won in operating profit and sales revenue of 196.5 trillion won during the January-September period. The two carmakers’ annual profit and revenue in 2022 were 17.5 trillion won and 229.8 trillion won, res

Oct. 27, 2023

[Photo News] Best mechanic skills

Participants of Hyundai Motor Group’s 14th World Skill Olympics, the biannual competition event for car maintenance technicians, pose for a photo in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday. This year, Haydar Ali from Indonesia won first place among the 75 participants from 56 countries in Europe, Central America and Southeast Asia. Since 1995, the annual event has evaluated mechanics’ skills in diagnosing and fixing problems with international combustion engine cars and, more

Oct. 27, 2023

Hyundai Motor posts record Q3 earnings on upbeat US sales

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it hit record earnings in the third quarter thanks to all-time high sales in the US market. The company’s operating profit from July to September skyrocketed 146.3 percent from last year to 3.8 trillion won ($2.8 billion), its highest figure since 2011. Its sales revenue increased 8.7 percent to 41 trillion won in the same period. The world’s third-largest carmaker sold a total of 1.04 million cars abroad and within Korea, a 2 percent jump from a yea

Oct. 26, 2023

Samsung SDI logs record-high Q3 sales on solid EV battery demand

Samsung SDI said Thursday it has posted a record-high revenue in the third quarter, driven by upbeat sales of electric vehicle batteries. In the July–September period, the company’s revenue surged 10.8 percent on-year to 5.9 trillion won ($4.4 billion), mostly boosted by increased sales of prismatic and cylindrical batteries cells for EVs which saw a 60 percent jump in profit and a 9.3 percent operating profit margin. Its operating profit decreased 12.3 percent to 496 billion won in

Oct. 26, 2023

LG Energy Solution ups ante in price war against Chinese rivals

LG Energy Solution plans to boost production of price-competitive electric vehicle batteries -- including lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries -- in a move to expand its footing in the low-cost EV market dominated by Chinese rivals, the company said in its third quarter earnings call on Wednesday. “We plan to launch LFP batteries, and LFMP and manganese-rich batteries in 2026 and 2027, respectively to strengthen our low-priced battery product portfolio,” said Lee Chang-sil, chief f

Oct. 25, 2023

Hyundai looks to repeat late founder’s Mideast success with EVs, hydrogen

Hyundai Motor Group is venturing into the Middle East as it explores new business opportunities with cutting-edge technologies in the region, looking to recreate the pioneering legacy of Chung Ju-yung, Hyundai Group’s late founder. During President Yoon Suk Yeol's state visit to the Middle East, the South Korean conglomerate announced a series of agreements and contracts to set up a new manufacturing plant for electric vehicles and cooperate in the eco-friendly energy sector with effo

Oct. 24, 2023