[Photo News] KG Mobility makes Italy debut

Lee Byung-kil (right), head of the Europe and Latin America business division at KG Mobility, and representatives of the carmaker's Italian dealers attend the launch event of its flagship sport utility vehicle, the Actyon, in Florence, Italy, on May 6. The carmaker said Wednesday that it plans to introduce additional models in Italy, including the Musso EV pickup and the Torres Hybrid SUV, aiming for annual sales of 5,000 vehicles. (KG Mobility)

May 14, 2025

Kia pledges $4.1m to nurture mobility talent in India

Korean automaker Kia announced Wednesday that it has partnered with a leading engineering education institute in Andhra Pradesh, India, to nurture local automotive talent and strengthen the country's future mobility capabilities. According to Kia, the company signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding on Friday with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Tirupati to forge collaboration between industry and academia. A member of India’s prominent network of 23 engineering universities kn

May 14, 2025

LG, GM to produce more affordable EV batteries in US by 2028

LG Energy Solution and General Motors will roll out lithium manganese-rich, or LMR, prismatic battery cells for the latter’s electric trucks and sport utility vehicles by 2028, the companies announced Wednesday. According to the announcement, Ultium Cells, a US joint venture between LG Energy Solution and GM, plans to begin preproduction of LMR prismatic battery cells at an LG Energy Solution’s manufacturing facility by late 2027. Commercial production is expected in the following year as GM loo

May 14, 2025

KGM partners with Indonesia’s Pindad for EV, defense cooperation

KG Mobility said Tuesday it is set to supply electric buses and military vehicles to Indonesia through PT Pindad, a state-owned defense company under the country’s Ministry of Defense. The signing ceremony for the head of agreement — a non-binding preliminary document outlining the key terms of a proposed deal — took place on Thursday at Pindad’s headquarters in Bandung, Indonesia. Key figures attended the event, including KGM Chairman Kwak Jae-sun, KGM CEO Hwang Ki-young, KGMC CEO Kim Jong-hyun

May 13, 2025

[Photo News] Rolls-Royce’s most powerful Spectre makes Korean debut

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars debuted the high-performance Black Badge variant of its all-electric Spectre coupe in Seoul on Tuesday. With a maximum torque of 1,075 newton meters, the Spectre Black Badge is among the most powerful electric vehicles on the market. Korean pricing starts at 719 million won ($510,327), with deliveries scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2025. (Rolls-Royce Motor Cars)

May 13, 2025

Hyundai Mobis bets on robotics as Atlas mass production looms

Hyundai Mobis, the automotive parts manufacturing arm of Hyundai Motor Group, is poised to develop robotics joints for Atlas, the flagship humanoid robot produced by Boston Dynamics, the automaker’s robotics subsidiary. According to media reports on Monday, Hyundai Mobis recently shared its plans with its institutional investors to consider supplying “actuators,” the mechanical systems that convert electrical energy into motion, for humanoids. These components will allow the robots to replicate

May 12, 2025

SK On increases global EV battery market share as Korean rivals slip

SK On emerged during the first quarter as the sole South Korean battery maker to increase its market share in the global EV battery market outside China, defying headwinds from fast-growing Chinese rivals. The company captured 10.6 percent of the global market between January and March, up from 9.9 percent a year earlier, overtaking Samsung SDI to become the world’s No. 3 EV battery supplier, according to a report Friday from SNE Research. Battery usage in newly registered EVs reached 10.4 gigaw

May 9, 2025

Hyundai gears up for Russian comeback as Chinese rivals stall on production

Hyundai Motor Group could seize an opportunity to return to the Russian market as Moscow looks to curb auto imports and Chinese automakers hesitate to set up local production sites, according to a report from the Korea Automotive Technology Institute released Friday. The Russian government has been increasing its recycling fee, essentially a tariff on auto imports, since October last year, and the KATECH report noted that these hiked levies would have the biggest impact on Chinese automakers. Ac

May 9, 2025

Why GM sticks with Korea production despite looming 25% tariff

General Motors, one of the top three automakers in the US, remains committed to leveraging South Korea as a vital production hub for its budget cars, despite the looming 25 percent tariff imposed by President Donald Trump. According to a GM official cited by Bloomberg on Wednesday, the automaker reaffirmed its commitment to Korean operations, the production base for its cheaper models, including the Chevrolet Trailblazer sport utility vehicle, the Buick Encore GX SUV and the Buick Envista crosso

May 8, 2025

[Photo News] Grand Koleos to hit roads across Latin America

Renault Korea has completed the boarding process of the first batch of locally manufactured midsized sport utility vehicle, Grand Koleos, headed to the Latin American region, the French auto brand's Korean office said Thursday. According to the automaker, a total of 894 units will be sold in Mexico and Colombia as it plans to expand the regional sales of the SUV to nearby markets such as Brazil, Uruguay, Panama and the Dominican Republic in the future. (Renault Korea)

May 8, 2025

Samsung SDI wins innovation award at Smarter E Europe

Samsung SDI on Wednesday announced its reception of the innovation award at The Smarter E Europe 2025, the region’s largest energy exhibition, making it the only South Korean company to be honored at this year’s event. The battery maker’s new U8A1 high-power Uninterruptible Power Supply product and thermal propagation prevention technology received the Smarter E Award, which selects companies with the best innovation across five categories: energy storage, e-mobility, solar power, smart energy a

May 7, 2025

GM Korea's April sales fall 6.3% on weaker demand

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Friday its sales fell 6.3 percent in April from a year earlier on lower demand for its models. The company sold 41,644 vehicles last month, down from 44,426 units in the same period last year, the company said in a press release. Domestic sales plunged 42 percent on-year to 1,326 units last month from 2,297, while exports declined 4.3 percent to 40,318 from 42,129. From January to April, total sales dropped 9.1 percent to 154,161 un

May 2, 2025

Hyundai, Kia see minimal impact from Trump’s ease of auto parts tariff

Although US President Donald Trump recently walked back parts of his automotive tariff policies, Hyundai Motor Company and Kia are anticipated to experience only insignificant benefits, sources said Friday. “The partial tariff exemption eases the tax burden for Hyundai Motor and Kia, lowering some of the price hike pressures due to rising costs,” said an industry source close to the matter on condition of anonymity. “However, this could benefit the carmakers only to some extent, as the 25 percen

May 2, 2025

Hyundai Ioniq 5 to receive IRA subsidy with US production shift

Hyundai Motor Co.’s Ioniq 5, its flagship electric, midsized SUV, became eligible to receive the US government-sponsored $7,500 consumer subsidy following the relocation of its vehicle and battery production to the US. According to a Hyundai Motor Group official on Friday, the US Department of Energy granted the subsidy for the Ioniq 5 for the second half of this year. The three-month delay in approval was reportedly due to the vehicle’s failure to fully meet requirements outlined in the Inflati

May 2, 2025

Sales of Hyundai, Kia in US rise 16% in April

Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. said Friday their combined vehicle sales in the United States surged 16 percent in April from a year earlier, driven by strong demand for sport utility vehicles. Hyundai and Kia sold a total of 162,615 vehicles in the US last month, up from 139,865 units a year ago, according to the companies' sales data. Hyundai's vehicle sales jumped 19 percent to 81,503 units from 74,111 over the cited period, while those of Kia advanced 14 percent to 74,8

May 2, 2025