Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin will visit Vietnam next month on his first overseas trip after a presidential pardon granted last week lifted a legal hurdle that had limited his business activities in recent years.  According to the group, Shin will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Lotte E&C’s construction of Eco Smart City complex in Thu Thiem, Ho Chi Minh, on Sept. 2. Some $900 million have been invested into the construction of the 60-story building on a 680,000-squa

Hyosung Group said Friday that it has donated10 AI care robots, called Pibo, to older patriots and veterans, as part of its social contribution activities.  Pibo, an AI care robot developed by a South Korean startup, Circulus, offers information such as news and weather while also monitoring the user’s body temperature and heart rate. It also manages medication tracking by setting a specific reminder of a user’s treatment schedule. The robot can monitor a user’s state of

More than one-third of newly registered taxis this year were electric vehicles, illustrating their continuously expanding market in the country. According to Transport Ministry data analyzed by CarIsYou data center, 7,394 electric vehicles were newly registered for taxi operation from January to July. This equates to 36.4 percent of the 20,296 units newly registered as taxis in the same period.  The number of electric taxis has significantly increased in the last decade. In 2013, there

Hyundai Mobis, an auto parts affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said Thursday it will set up two manufacturing subsidiaries -- one in charge of modules and the other for auto parts -- that will be wholly owned by the company. Its current module manufacturing units located in Ulsan, Gwangju and Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, will come under the module subsidiary, while the auto parts manufacturing units in charge of air bags, lamps, brakes, steering and electrification will come under the au

Hyundai Motor Group’s ambitious green push has hit a snag in the all-important US market as President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a new bill that has immediately scrapped subsidies for electric vehicles made outside America.  Under the $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act, up to $7,500 of tax credits will be offered to “Made in US” EVs to help lift the portion of eco-friendly vehicles to 50 percent of all car sales in the local market by 2030. Hyundai Motor and its small

The government‘s new scheme to adopt battery subscription services for electric vehicles is drawing mixed reactions due to the high costs of battery swapping amid falling prices of EV batteries.  The government plans to revise related laws to allow double registrations for an EV and its battery pack so carmakers or financial firms can run their own battery rental services for drivers, which is expected to drastically lower the purchasing costs for EVs whose battery pack represents u

Seoul hosted the country’s first electric car racing event over the weekend, after the competition was delayed twice due to pandemic, but despite the hype for the motorsports extravaganza, the season finale left a wake of disappointment regarding its management and operation.  Seoul E-Prix, the final race of season eight of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, was held on Saturday and Sunday. Races took place on a 2.7-kilometer track constructed around and looping through Jamsi

Every Formula E works as a giant laboratory to test the latest electric vehicle technology. But the competition rule that forbids carmakers from altering auto components, particularly batteries, should be lifted to bring electric mobility to the next level, Porsche Motorsports said in Seoul Friday. “Battery is one of the most important parts of electric vehicles -- or the most important -- as it has huge impact to the weight and performance,“ said Porsche Motorsport Vice President

As DS Techeetah, a racing team by Stellantis’ French auto brand DS Automobiles, aims to win the Formula E season finale championship taking place in Seoul over the weekend, its team racers said the championship is all about technology and sustainability.  “I’m sure that Formula E is pushing the manufacturers to make models that are quicker and more efficient,” said two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne during a press conference held in Seoul on Thursday, two days prio

Head-up Display, or HUD, has been largely adopted by global carmakers in recent years as a way of keeping drivers’ eyes on the road. But by using bulky, conventional optics, HUDs could only project limited information on the windshield above the steering wheel, providing rudimentary information such as direction and speed. However, in the near future, the cockpit feature would be transformed to take a bigger role in driving by applying augmented reality technology, said an executive at H

SK IE Technology (SKIET), a material solution provider SK Group, said Friday that it has signed an agreement with Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup to supply electric vehicle battery separators to its EV battery manufacturing affiliate VinES. The two firms clinched a deal on July 26th, when VinES President Pham Thuy Linh and executives visited the SKIET headquarters in Seoul and its factory in North Chungcheong Province, according to the Korean firm. A battery separator is one of

South Korean steelmaker Posco Group said Friday that it has established an advisory committee for artificial intelligence technology, to initiate an in-depth discussion on the latest technology and map out future business strategies. Comprising 20 academia representatives and industry professionals in the AI sector, the committee is divided into two separate subcommittees. The academia-focused committee and industry-focused committee will each be responsible for sharing the latest AI trends, d

Global carmakers are penetrating the electric bicycle market, taking advantage of its value as a test bed for the future technology of electric vehicles while rounding out their e-mobility portfolios. Experts note that both e-bikes and EVs have motors and batteries as their core parts, and also shared parts of their design structure. This gives carmakers a great leg up in the e-bike market, which is still in its nascent stage with no clear market leader.  “When the finished carmake

Hyundai Motor said Tuesday that its Xcient Fuel Cell, the world’s first mass-produced, heavy-duty truck powered by hydrogen, will make its debut in Germany as part of the carmaker’s efforts to expand its presence in the largest commercial vehicle market.  A total of 27 units of Xcient trucks will be delivered to seven local companies in the logistics and manufacturing sectors. This will be the second time that Hyundai has exported its fuel-cell truck to Europe after it clinche

Posco said Tuesday that it will conduct a feasibility study with Brazil’s largest raw material supplier, Vale, for the possible production of hot briquette iron as part of the steel giant’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint.  HBI, which is created by reducing the iron ore with natural gas, is a relatively new product that has been recently introduced to be used as a pre-material in blast furnaces or electric arc furnaces. A low-carbon HBI manufacturing plant emits less ca

The South Korean government said Monday that it would revise the law to allow battery subscription services for electric vehicles, a move that is expected to pull down EV prices almost one-third from their current price tag and lower entry barriers for potential buyers.  The Ministry of Land, Transport and Infrastructure said that a 36-member regulatory reform committee held a meeting on Thursday to approve the planned revision. The current law on vehicle registration does not allow two

Hyundai Motor Group on Monday unveiled its vision for smart city at the World Cities Summit in Singapore, with an aim to offer a blueprint for smart mobility solutions that revitalize urban communities.  During a panel discussion at the biannual summit, the automaker’s President and Chief Innovation Officer Chi Young-cho offered a detailed look into the company’s vision for human-focused city design through its HMG Smart City concept. The company first unveiled such vision for

South Korean defense-to-energy giant Hanwha Group said Friday that it is revamping its business structure to maximize synergy among defense units with an aim to mimic the success of Lockheed Martin, the US-based aerospace and defense company.  Under the scheme, Hanwha Aerospace, its largest defense arm that mainly produces aircraft engines, will take over the defense unit of Hanwha Corp., a de facto holding company of the group, and absorb its wholly owned subsidiary Hanwha Defense. 

Posco said Friday that it has raised $1 billion by selling debts overseas, the largest corporate bond issuance by a South Korean company this year.  According to the South Korean steel giant, the two-tranche debt consists of three-year bonds worth $700 million and five-year bonds worth $300 million.  The decision was made a day after the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage point for the second consecutive time to fight inflation fears.  It

  Indonesian President Joko Widodo requested the head of South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group to provide clean mobility in the Southeast Asian country’s grand administrative city project during their meeting in Seoul, the company said Thursday. Earlier this year, the Indonesian parliament passed a bill to relocate the country‘s capital city from Jakarta to the East Kalimantan province in the island of Borneo to level out overpopulation. The new capital will be constructed