SK On-Urbix to develop EV battery materials

South Korean battery maker SK On said Thursday it has partnered up with US-based battery materials manufacturer Urbix to develop ecofriendly anode materials for electric vehicle batteries. Under the two years of joint development agreement, SK On will apply anode materials produced by Urbix using refined graphite to its lithium-ion batteries and work on improving battery performance. If successful, the battery maker will consider using Urbix’s anode materials in its US battery factories,

Jan. 19, 2023

[Photo News] World Expo bid

Hyundai Motor Group on Wednesday displayed Genesis X, a concept electric vehicle, at the Korea Night event held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to promote the country's bid to host the World Expo 2030 in the southern port city of Busan, the automaker said Thursday. A total of 58 Hyundai Motor vehicles wrapped with the slogan "World Expo 2030 Busan, Korea" has been driving around the Swiss city this week to help Korea's bidding campaign.

Jan. 19, 2023

[Photo News] World's first ammonia-powered truck

Amogy, a US clean energy startup, has successfully conducted a test drive of the world's first ammonia-powered, zero-emission semi truck, SK Innovation said Wednesday. The semi truck secured 900 kilowatt-hours of net electric energy after eight minutes of fueling process that used Amogy's ammonia-to-fuel technology. SK Innovation invested $30 million in Amogy in June last year.

Jan. 18, 2023

Facelifted Hyundai Kona aims to redefine compact SUVs

Hyundai Motor Group on Wednesday launched the all-new Kona, a second-generation subcompact sport utility vehicle, with an aim to set new standards for small SUVs. “Kona is Hyundai Motor’s most iconic SUV. We took the creative design of the existing model and applied a new method of designing the electric vehicle first and putting it on the internal combustion engine model later to create a more futuristic design,” said Chang Jae-hoon, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor, in a me

Jan. 18, 2023

Kia to build first new Korean factory in 26 years

Kia, an affiliate under the leading carmaker Hyundai Motor Group, said Tuesday it has decided to build a new car plant in South Korea, an outcome of yearslong negotiations with its labor union. With the construction set to start in the first quarter of this year, the upcoming plant will become Kia’s first new factory to be built in Korea in 26 years. Kia and the labor union agreed on producing 200,000 electrified purpose-built vehicles a year in the long term, gradually expanding productio

Jan. 17, 2023

Korea tops Bentley’s Asia-Pacific sales

South Korea topped Bentley’s Asia-Pacific market in 2022 as Korean customers purchased almost 40 percent of all Bentley vehicles sold in the region last year, Bentley Motors Korea said Tuesday. Citing the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the high-end automaker said Korean customers bought a total of 775 Bentleys, about a 53 percent increase on year. It marked the country’s second consecutive year to have posted its best sales figure after 506 Ben

Jan. 17, 2023

Hyundai promotes Busan's Expo bid at Davos

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it would operate 58 vehicles during the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos this week to promote South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan. As a means to echo Busan’s sustainability vision for the World Expo, the carmaker offered 45 EV models. The list includes the luxury brand Genesis’ 18 Electrified G80, 8 Electrified GV60, 4 Electrified GV70 and Hyundai’s 15 Santa Fe Plugin Hybrid models. The cars, wrapped wi

Jan. 16, 2023

[Photo News] Back to normal

Asiana Airlines workers on Monday add more seats to an A330 aircraft that has been used as a cargo airplane during the coronavirus pandemic. The airliner said it has completed renovation work on a total of seven A350 and A330 airplanes in preparation for a recovery in international travel. Despite pandemic disruptions, the company could earn additional revenue worth 370 billion won ($300 million) from cargo shipping.

Jan. 16, 2023

[From the scene] Hyundai crashes Ioniq 5 to demonstrate EV battery safety

HWASEONG, Gyeonggi Province -- Despite burgeoning demand for electric vehicles, one key concern among consumers is the huge high-voltage battery pack carries a fire risk. In an apparent move to ease such concerns and show off its latest safety technology, Hyundai Motor Group conducted a rare crash test of its bestselling Ioniq 5 EV in front of the media Thursday. During the test performed at the carmaker’s Namyang Technology Institute in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, the Ioniq 5, built

Jan. 15, 2023

LG, Honda set up $4.4b joint battery venture in US

LG Energy Solution and Honda have completed the establishment of a joint venture to build a battery manufacturing plant in the US, officials announced Friday. The joint venture, tentatively named L-H Battery Company, marks the first collaboration between a South Korean battery maker and a Japanese automaker. Friday’s official announcement was a follow-up to the two companies’ previous agreement in August. According to the announcement, the two companies will invest a total of $4.4 bi

Jan. 13, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group develops healing mobility for child abuse victims

Hyundai Motor Group has applied digital therapeutics technology into an automobile for victims of child abuse to have an in-the-car treatment experience. According to the South Korean automaker Friday, the healing vehicle named “iCAREcar” has been developed with Hyundai Motor’s minivan Staria and its interior has been optimized to offer psychological counseling inside the car. Under the theme of "Heals on Wheels," the group's latest social campaign project was co

Jan. 13, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group chief named MotorTrend Person of the Year

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun has been named the MotorTrend Person of the Year, the South Korean carmaker announced Thursday. With the award, Chung topped the US automobile magazine's list of the 50 most influential figures in the global automotive industry. He was ranked fifth in last year’s rankings. MotorTrend acknowledged Chung for leading Hyundai Motor Group into a new age, underscoring that the vehicles developed under his leadership are notable for their &ldq

Jan. 12, 2023

[Photo News] Utility vehicle of year

Kia's EV6 has won the North American Utility Vehicle of the Year award, Hyundai Motor Group announced Thursday. This year's winner was selected by 50 automotive journalists in the US and Canada. The South Korean automaker said over 19,000 EV6s have been sold in the US since February.

Jan. 12, 2023

Ex-GM Korea CEO found guilty of illegally outsourcing labor

Kazem was sentenced to eight months in prison and a two-year probation, while GM Korea was slapped with a 30 million won ($24,260) fine, according to the Incheon District Court. Four former and current executives of GM Korea and 13 CEOs of subcontractors who illegally outsourced their workers to the company were also found guilty on the same charges. The four current and former GM Korea executives were fined 7 million won each, and the subcontractor CEOs fined between 2 million - 5 million w

Jan. 10, 2023

[Herald Interview] Mercedes-Benz’s high-power charger coming to Korea

LAS VEGAS -- Mercedes-Benz will look to introduce its newly announced high-power charging network to South Korea by the end of 2024, the global carmaker’s chief technology officer said Thursday. “Korea is a huge market … it’s the fourth largest market for us,” Markus Schafer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG board member and chief technology officer, told a group of Korean and Japanese reporters in an interview conducted a few hours after the carmaker announced a plan to lau

Jan. 9, 2023

SK On mulls scrapping plan for Turkey battery plant

South Korean electric vehicle battery maker SK On said Monday it is reconsidering its plan to build a new battery plant in Turkey together with US auto giant Ford Motor, citing prolonged economic woes. “We have held talks (with Ford and Turkish partner Koc Holdings) on the matter, but the process is lagging behind the schedule,” said an SK On official. “The final decision on whether to pull out of the deal is still pending.” SK On said it is looking to change its invest

Jan. 9, 2023

[CES 2023] KSOE to test large ship’s autonomous sailing in 2024

LAS VEGAS -- Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering on Friday signed a partnership with the American Bureau of Shipping to accelerate the development of unmanned large ships. “The cooperation with the ABS will be a great help for HD Hyundai to lead the development and commercialization of autonomous navigation,” said Kim Sung-joon, head of KSOE’s future technology research center. KSOE, the world’s largest shipbuilder and a sub-holding company of HD Hyundai, said t

Jan. 8, 2023

[CES 2023] Hyundai Mobis to work with Qualcomm to develop self-driving control unit

LAS VEGAS -- South Korean auto parts and mobility solutions provider Hyundai Mobis on Thursday said it will cooperate with global semiconductor developer Qualcomm to develop autonomous driving control unit technology. According to Hyundai Mobis, the two companies will work together on developing control technology for Level 3 autonomous driving, which refers to conditional driving automation that allows drivers to hand over control to the vehicle, but requires them to be ready to take the wheel

Jan. 6, 2023

Hyundai's US unit, Microsoft team up for urban air mobility

Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday its US-based urban air mobility unit Supernal is collaborating with Microsoft to develop advanced air mobility (AMM) solutions. The South Korean automotive company said it will use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Microsoft Azure, to develop and operate AMM solutions for autonomous flight and virtual manufacturing. The cloud platform will allow Supernal to run simulations at scale and accelerate the commercialization of its solutions, Hyundai added.

Jan. 4, 2023

New year to brace for challenges, embrace changes: Hyundai Motor chief

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun on Tuesday held a rare town hall meeting with approximately 600 employees, during which he stressed that the automotive company would brace for challenges and embrace changes to tackle an economic slowdown. “We should not be afraid of upcoming crises and (helplessly) face the aftermath, but leapfrog toward sustainable growth with active innovation,” Chung said during the New Year's event held at the company’s Namyang Re

Jan. 3, 2023