South Korea has become Lamborghini’s eighth-largest market in the world and No.1 in the Asia Pacific last year, selling over 400 units for the first time. With the growing strategic importance of the Korean market, the Italian high-end car brand is upping the ante here with its first hybrid sports car Revuelto, according to the company’s regional chief. “(Even before the official launch,) through pre-orders, the allocated number of cars until 2025 for the Korean market has comp

Unlike other global carmakers going all-out to launch fully electric vehicles, Toyota and its premium brand Lexus have insisted on developing hybrid cars. However, with burgeoning demand for battery-powered EVs (BEVs) in Korean and other major countries’ clean car markets, Lexus aims to expand its footing with the first BEV lineup, The All New Electric RZ. RZ 450e, the first EV in the RZ lineup, is a crossover utility vehicle -- a mix of sedan and sport utility vehicle -- that runs on To

Lamborghini said Friday it would be launching its first plug-in hybrid high-performance sports car, the Revuelto, in Korea. “Revuelto sets another big milestone for Lamborghini’s new flagship vehicle. This is an important moment for us to launch the car model here in Korea,” Francesco Scardaoni, Asia Pacific regional director of Lamborghini, said at a press conference in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province. Named after a Spanish fighting bull, Revuelto merges the best of Lamborghini&rsq

Toyota’s premium brand Lexus on Wednesday announced the Korean launch of its first battery-powered electric vehicle, the all-new electric RZ 450e, marking a shift from its hybrid EV-focused business portfolio. “Korea is a key market for understanding the latest trends of (the) automotive market because customers here are trend-savvy and show great interest in cutting-edge technology,” said Lexus International CEO Watanabe Takashi during a press conference in Seoul. “Latel

Hyundai Motor Group said Tuesday it aims to boost its annual sales of electric vehicles in global markets sixfold to 2 million units by 2030 under its revamped electrification strategy. Under its 10-year financial plan worth 109.4 trillion won ($85.1 billion), it plans to inject 35.8 trillion won into electrification. On average, 3.6 trillion won will be invested in EVs and batteries annually, which is higher than last year’s commitment of 2.2 trillion won per year. The operating profit

Hanwha Solution said Monday it is poised to build an industrial complex for manufacturing semiconductors and auto parts in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, in a move to offset its sluggish oil and gas business. According to the company, Hwaseong City has approved its business plan to construct the industrial zone, called H-Techno Valley. With a joint investment worth 380 billion won ($296 million) by the firm and the city government, the construction project is scheduled to be completed by 2027 in t

Hyundai Motor Group’s smaller affiliate Kia is launching a three-row family electric car, the EV9 -- the first of its kind here -- revamping the brand’s push toward sustainable transportation. The EV9 is the second model to adopt Hyundai’s electric car platform E-GMP, following the mid-sized electrified sport utility vehicle EV6, which debuted in 2021. Kia boasted that the latest EV will become a flagship model with the most advanced electrification technology. Creating a new E

More than 35,000 new electric vehicle chargers were built nationwide in the first five months of this year, bringing the total number to over 240,000 units, a report showed Sunday, amid the nation’s fast-growing demand for clean transportation. As of May, 240,695 units of EV chargers were installed nationwide, according to a report from Rep. Park Sang-hyeok of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, citing data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Minis

Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it has invested 1.3 trillion won ($1 billion) in mobility and tech startups, in a move to expand its presence as the first mover in the global future mobility market. “Unlike the traditional automotive industry, mobility innovation nowadays is happening outside of the manufacturing sector in places like Silicon Valley,” said Hwang Yoon-seong, director of the Hyundai and Kia Open Innovation division, during a press conference at a hotel in Seoul. &l

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday it plans to bring back to Korea a capital surplus at its foreign units worth a total of $5.9 billion, taking full advantage of the nation’s recent corporate tax revision as well as its upbeat sales abroad in recent years. Under the scheme, the Seoul headquarters plans to boost dividends payouts to foreign units with good performance, including its US and European operations, and the dividends will be invested into expanding production of electric vehicles

With the yearslong boycotting of Japan-made products in Korea showing signs of abating, Japanese auto giant Toyota is seeking to turn the tables here with the Crown Hybrid crossover utility vehicle, which shows off its latest technological advancements in combining a combustion engine and electric motor. The Crown was Toyota’s first mass-produced car model, with the longest history of 69 years and its bestselling premium sedan at home. But in Korea, the car has long been absent after it

South Korea’s top makers of chips and cars, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group, announced their first-ever partnership last week, fueling speculation that their rare tie-up could further extend in the field of future mobility. Under the deal, Samsung will supply automotive chips for Hyundai’s upcoming cars. Since the late 1990s, when Samsung ditched its car-making business, the nation’s two largest conglomerates have distanced themselves from being involved in direct c

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun highlighted the importance of learning from the past to prepare for the rapidly changing mobility industry, at the opening ceremony for an exhibition honoring the carmaker’s first mass-produced car, the Pony. “With ChatGPT now a buzzword, artificial intelligence and robotics technology are witnessing exponential growth. Under the circumstances, we need to ask what our purpose of existence and future road map are,” said Chung at t

SK Signet, the electric vehicle charger maker affiliated with SK Group, said Wednesday it will start production of EV chargers in the US next month with the completion of its new plant in Texas. The new plant will be producing 10,000 units of its 400-kilowatt EV charger per year. It aims to double production capacity to an annual 20,000 units in phases. “By 2025, we look to boost our global sales to 1 trillion won ($768.3 million), compared to last year’s 160 billion won. Our goal is

JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon reportedly met with the heads of the nation’s top four financial groups and Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong in Seoul during his two-day visit to Korea in five years, according to industry sources on Tuesday. Upon his arrival at a Seoul hotel on Monday, he met with the nation’s financial leaders, including Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong, Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, Woori Financial Group Chairman Lim Jong-r

With improved bilateral relations between Korea and Japan, Toyota is seeking a turnaround here with the launch of the Crown Hybrid crossover utility vehicle, an upgraded version of its long-loved flagship sedan. “The Korean market is both worthy of investment and challenging because many customers are car enthusiasts who have high standards,” said Toyota Korea CEO Konyama Manabu, during a press conference on Monday in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. “Compared to 2022, the situation has

42dot, a self-driving mobility unit under Hyundai Motor Group, is setting up a global software center for software defined vehicles, or SDVs, aiming to create a foothold in the burgeoning future mobility business. Users can manage operations and acquire new features for SDVs primarily through software updates. According to a regulatory filing on Wednesday, the company received a first-phase investment worth 346.2 billion won ($265.1 million) from the carmaker, who vowed to inject total of 1.5

Hyundai Motor Group seems to be further bolstering its ties with China’s CATL, the world’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles, as part of its renewed strategy to diversify battery suppliers amid increasingly protectionist policies in the US and Europe, according to industry sources Sunday. The latest development comes after the world’s third-largest carmaker by sales has recently been stripped of EV subsidies in the all-important US market under the Inflation Reducti

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI said Thursday an executive meeting was held to bolster environmental, social and governance management efforts. Some 20 top executives, including Samsung SDI CEO Choi Yoon-ho, joined the workshop held at the company’s headquarters in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province. “ESG management goes beyond corporate’s social responsibility. It is a key strategy to enhancing our competitive edge for the future,” said the CEO in his opening remarks. &ld

Hyundai Rotem, a railway, defense and plant systems provider under Hyundai Motor Group, is speeding up the commercial debut of the nation’s first hydrogen-powered electric tram, with a test drive set to be carried out in the coming months. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday, the company’s upcoming tram, equipped with hydrogen fuel cells, is expected to drive a total of 25,000 kilometers on two railway test tracks in Osong, North Chungcheong Provinc