SHENZHEN/CHONGQING, China -- The license plate on the Denza Z9, a high-performance electric vehicle produced by Chinese EV maker BYD, read “10,000,000th” as a group of Korean journalists entered the BYD’s final assembly factory in Shenzhen on Tuesday. BYD celebrated its 30th anniversary with the completion of its 10-millionth car at the manufacturing plant the previous day. The 10 assembly lines at the site were packed with BYD vehicles. A BYD official noted that the day’

Mobility Nov. 25, 2024

CHONGQING, China -- Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD will not focus on sales volume when it debuts in the Korean passenger car market early next year, the EV giant’s Asia Pacific head says. “We will not set a sales target for our first year (in Korea), “said Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Asia Pacific auto sales division, in a group interview with Korean reporters at BYD’s headquarters in Shenzhen, China, Wednesday. “Our hope is to give Korean customers hand

Mobility Nov. 25, 2024

Hyundai Motor Group is on track to report record-high spending for lobbying in the United States this year as the Korean auto conglomerate continues to ramp up its presence and influence in Washington, DC According to OpenSecrets, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia -- the two automakers under Hyundai Motor Group -- have spent $2.51 million on lobbying in the US as of the third q

Mobility Nov. 20, 2024

Hyundai Motor Group appointed Jose Munoz, global chief operating officer at Hyundai Motor Co., as the next CEO of the auto brand on Friday, marking the conglomerate’s first-ever appointment of a foreign leader. The appointment is to take effect on Jan. 1. Munoz, a native of Spain and a US citizen, joined the Korean automaker in 2019 and has served as president and global COO of Hyundai Motor Co. as well as president of Hyundai and Genesis Motor North America. “Through strengthening d

Companies Nov. 15, 2024

Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn has taken a top position at the conglomerate’s main defense affiliate, Hanwha Aerospace, to ramp up the firm’s global expansion. According to Hanwha Aerospace’s quarterly report released on Thursday, Kim has been appointed as the defense firm's chairman. With the newly given title, the Hanwha Group head now has five chair positions, at Hanwha Corporation, Hanwha Solutions, Hanwha Systems, Hanwha Vision and Hanwha Aerospace. “Chair

Companies Nov. 15, 2024

HD Hyundai announced new nominees to head its affiliates on Thursday as the Korean shipbuilding conglomerate aims to cope with changes in the global business environment in the wake of the US presidential election. HD Hyundai Vice Chairman Chung Ki-sun has been promoted to the group’s executive vice chairman. With the promotion, Chung is expected to play a bigger role in leading HD Hyundai’s key projects and eco-friendly and technological innovation, discovering future growth engines

Companies Nov. 14, 2024

LG Energy Solution has secured a contract to supply up to 8 gigawatt-hour energy storage systems to US renewable energy firm Terra-Gen, the Korean battery-maker announced Thursday. Under the deal, LG Energy Solution Vertech will deliver the ESS to Terra-Gen from 2026 to 2029. The Korean battery maker acquired NEC Energy Solutions, a grid battery integrator based in the US, in 2022 and renamed it LG Energy Solution Vertech. The deal marked the biggest supply contract since the launch of LG Energy

Companies Nov. 14, 2024

BYD will officially enter the Korean passenger vehicle market early next year, the Chinese electric vehicle maker's Korean office announced Wednesday. The announcement came after months of speculation over when BYD would launch its passenger EVs in the Korean market. BYD Korea already entered the commercial vehicle market in 2016 and has released electric buses and trucks here since then. BYD Korea said it has reviewed the feasibility of a passenger vehicle business in Korea over the past f

Mobility Nov. 13, 2024

Hyundai Motor, in collaboration with Chinese partner Haomo, will launch its first Chinese-market-dedicated electric vehicle equipped with generative artificial intelligence technology next year. “We are working to load the software of Haomo, a local autonomous driving software firm, onto the EV, which will be released in the Chinese market next year,” said a Hyundai Motor official. “The level of autonomous driving is somewhere between 2 and 2.5.” With a scale of autonomou

Mobility Nov. 12, 2024

Hyundai Motor has missed out on the United States tax incentives for its new $7.6-billion manufacturing plant -- Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America -- in Bryan County, Georgia, but said the credit did not affect its investment in the plant. According to industry sources Monday, Hyundai Motor did not make the list of companies that will receive tax incentives in the second round allocations of the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit, or 48C, which is an allocated tax credit funded by Pre

Companies Nov. 11, 2024

Korean shipbuilders are raising hopes to expand their presence in the US, following President-elect Donald Trump’s call for more bilateral cooperation in the shipbuilding sector. According to Seoul’s presidential office, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Trump had a 12-minute phone call Thursday morning after Trump won a second nonconsecutive presidential term. After exchanges of congratulations and gratitude, Trump specifically mentioned Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities and the US&

Industry Nov. 10, 2024

Korean automakers and battery-makers now face the daunting task of coping with a second Donald Trump administration, as they try to prepare various measures to weather the storm of uncertainties expected from the next president of the United States. Throughout his election campaign, Trump has openly criticized the Joe Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act and its Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit that have given financial benefits to Korean companies in the electric vehicle

Industry Nov. 7, 2024

South Korean battery-maker Kumyang unveiled the world’s first 4695 cylindrical battery cell, which the company claimed to have greater capacity than Tesla's 4680 battery, at InterBattery 2024 at Coex in Seoul in March this year. Oxford Metrica, a UK-based global advisory firm, recently analyzed that 600 Kumyang 4695 cells can generate 75 kilowatt-hours of energy to offer about 600 kilometers in driving distance, whereas the same number of Tesla 4680 cells would create about 52 kWh to

Companies Nov. 6, 2024

Renault Korea CEO Stephane Deblaise has been awarded the Industrial Service Medal from the Korean government in recognition of his leadership in successfully launching the Grand Koleos, the French automaker's new sports utility vehicle codenamed Aurora 1. According to Renault Korea on Wednesday, Deblaise was selected as the recipient of the national award during the 2024 Foreign Company Day hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas the p

Companies Nov. 6, 2024

Kia unveiled the new Sportage, the automaker’s best-selling sport utility vehicle, in Seoul on Monday, highlighting the enhanced product’s all-around upgrade, which it expects to continue accounting for a major part of the automaker’s market presence. “The new Sportage, which we are presenting today with pride, contains innovative changes that are on par with a full model change,” said Jeong Woo-jeong, head of Kia’s domestic business division, in a media prese

Mobility Nov. 5, 2024