South Korea’s antitrust watchdog imposed a combined 42.3 billion won ($33.5 million) in fines Thursday on three German carmakers -- Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi -- for collusion in the emissions of their diesel-powered vehicles. The carmakers were found to have installed software designed to reduce nitrogen oxide only minimally to just satisfy Korean environmental regulations. The toxic gas causes ozone and acid rain, and is linked to asthma, respiratory disorders and lung disease. The Fa

Mobility Feb. 9, 2023

South Korean electric vehicle battery maker SK On confirmed Wednesday its withdrawal from a battery project in Turkey, where it had planned to build a new EV battery plant as part of a joint venture with US auto giant Ford. “We can confirm that the nonbinding memorandum of understanding between Ford, SK On and KOC Holding has been terminated by mutual agreement,” the three parties said in a statement. “We still have a strategic partnership on plants in Hungary and Georgia and o

Mobility Feb. 9, 2023

Highlighting the potential of the burgeoning recycling market in Asia, Daniel Solomita, the founder and CEO of Canada-based clean technology company Loop Industries, has vowed to build its first full-scale recycling production facility using plastic and textile wastes in South Korea’s southeastern city of Ulsan. The plant is set to break ground later this year within the 1.7 trillion won ($1.3 billion) plastic recycling complex of SK Geo Centric, a chemical materials unit under the South

Mobility Feb. 9, 2023

Volkswagen Korea will recall more than 74,000 cars over faulty warning triangles, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday. Starting from Friday, the Korean unit of the German carmaker plans to issue a recall on a total of 74,809 vehicles across 27 car models that were sold here. The list includes 15,691 units of Tiguan 2.0 TDI, 9,466 units of Arteon 2.0 TDI and 9,050 units of Jetta 1.4 TSI. The Lamborghini brand, which was originally off the list, was added to the rec

Mobility Feb. 8, 2023

With the exponential growth of South Korea’s e-commerce market during the pandemic, Frank Appel, CEO of global logistics giant Deutsche Post DHL Group, has vowed to triple the company’s logistics capacity at Incheon Airport, the nation’s main gateway, this year. “DHL base in Incheon is our key Asia-Pacific network that connects Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China and other major countries of imports and exports. This investment highlights the strategic position of South

Mobility Feb. 6, 2023

With the automotive industry underscoring technology as a key driver of growth, high-performance brands under leading car manufacturers are becoming the testbed to enhance their car models’ driving features, ranging from speed to durability. Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea's No. 1 carmaker, is also gaining momentum with its performance line, N Brand, by testing its popular models in tour car racing, a motorsport that uses modified versions of mass-produced cars. “The biggest op

Mobility Feb. 5, 2023

LG Energy Solution said Thursday it has forged a partnership with Freudenberg E-Power Systems, a US-based clean energy systems provider affiliated with Germany's Freudenberg Group, to provide battery modules for commercial electric vehicles. Under the agreement, the battery maker will supply 19 gigawatt-hour battery modules that can power more than 50,000 heavy-duty EVs such as buses and trucks or 270,000 passenger EVs. FEPS plans to assemble LG Energy Solution’s battery modules int

Mobility Feb. 2, 2023

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Wednesday it will expand electric vehicle models to account for more than 15 percent of total car sales this year, underscoring its green push in the fourth-largest market of the German carmaker. “Last year, EV sales were less than 10 percent of the total sales. But starting from this year, we will offer more EV lineups (for customers), accelerating shift towards electrification,” said Lee Sang-kuk, vice president of sales department at Mercedes-Benz Korea

Mobility Feb. 1, 2023

Volkswagen Korea will issue a recall of more than 67,000 vehicles and has suspended all new car sales due to faulty warning triangles, a car accessory to warn drivers after emergency stops, a move experts here called an unprecedented precautionary measure after the firm's painful “Dieselgate” back in 2015. The Korean unit of the German carmaker said Tuesday a total of 67,459 vehicles across seven different models will be affected by the recall. The recall schedule has not been

Mobility Jan. 31, 2023

The US State of Georgia said Tuesday SK Battery America, a production subsidiary of South Korean battery giant SK On, has exceeded its hiring goal two years earlier than the initial schedule to fill jobs at its manufacturing facilities for electric vehicle batteries in the city of Commerce, Jackson County. The state government said the company had achieved its goal of 2,600 employees as of the end of 2022, with plans to expand the workforce to some 3,000 this year. Since launching its EV batte

Industry Jan. 31, 2023

South Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution’s stocks stood strong on Monday, despite the end of a year-long lock-up period. The company’s shares rose by 0.79 percent to 510,000 won ($415.5) from the last trading day, according to the bourse operator Korea Exchange. The stocks tumbled by 3.16 percent to 490,000 won at one point in the morning but ticked upwards approximately one hour before the closing bell. Foreigners and institutions each bought 29.1 billion won and 15.9 billion w

Mobility Jan. 30, 2023

Samsung SDI said Monday it posted record-high earnings in both sales revenue and operating profit last year, largely driven by the surge in sales of value-added battery products. Revenue skyrocketed 48.5 percent to 20.1 trillion won ($16 billion) last year, while its operating profit jumped 9 percent to 1.8 trillion won. It is the first time sales have reached the 20 trillion won mark. Operating profit soared to new heights as well, surpassing the 1 trillion won mark for the second consecutive

Mobility Jan. 30, 2023

SsangYong Motors, Renault Korea Motors and GM Korea are facing another challenging year ahead, with market leader Hyundai Motor Group’s big sales push showing little signs of abating. Hyundai and its smaller affiliate Kia, driven by demand for their full electric models, sold 688,884 and 541,068 vehicles, respectively, at home last year. Their market share stood strong at almost 90 percent in a market with a total of 1.39 million unit sales, excluding some 300,000 import car sales. For t

Mobility Jan. 29, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group recorded double-digit market share last year in 10 European countries, stepping up as the fourth-largest carmaker to have sold battery-powered electric vehicles, data showed Wednesday. Hyundai and its affiliate Kia sold a total of 96,988 EVs with a 10 percent market share in 10 countries including Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain, according to the US-based automotive market tracker Clean Technica. These markets account for 64 percent of the total EV sales

Mobility Jan. 25, 2023

Imported car sales hit a record-high of nearly 300,000 here last year, driven by pent-up demand for luxury cars during the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Friday. Imported car brands’ sales in 2022 increased by 2.6 percent on-year to 283,435 units, according to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association. When including the sales volume of 14,571 vehicles for Tesla, which was not counted by the association, the figure comes to 298,006 units, a twofold

Mobility Jan. 24, 2023