Renault Samsung Motors, a South Korean subsidiary of French carmaker Renault, has forged a partnership with LG Chem to develop energy storage systems with used batteries, the companies said Thursday. The carmaker has provided 40 units of used batteries from its electric vehicle SM3 Z.E. to its counterpart to help the latter develop and start testing a new type of ESS by 2021.Renault Samsung plans to provide batteries that have reached retirement age from its ultramini EV Twizy and other EVs plan

Hyundai Motor unveiled an upgraded version of fuel cell electric bus powered by hydrogen for the Korean police on Thursday, in line with the law enforcement agency’s plan to turn its entire bus fleet green.The carmaker had previously introduced city bus-type hydrogen vehicles for the law enforcement agency, but it is the first model with large cargo space for police equipment and is suitable for long-haul travel. The latest model has two 95 kilowatt fuel cell stacks with hydrogen tanks pla

Seeking to lower the cost of manufacturing fuel cell electric vehicles and of producing and storing hydrogen, Hyundai Motor will make strategic investments in three companies in Europe and in the Middle East and pursue technical cooperation, the company said Wednesday. Hyundai Motor has agreed to work with Impact Coatings AB of Sweden, a supplier of PVD-based coating solutions for fuel cells; H2Pro of Israel, a startup that developed an electrochemical, thermally active chemical (E-TAC) water-sp

Manfred Fitzgerald who led Genesis, the luxury brand of Hyundai Motor, for nearly four years has tendered his resignation citing personal reasons, the company said Tuesday.The former director of brand and design Lamborghini joined the company in January 2016, and is said to have contributed to raising the brand’s profile in a short period of time. Genesis G70, the smallest sedan of the family, was named the Car of the Year in North America, early this year.Fitzgerald will be replaced by Le

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor and Israeli mobility firm Taavura have forged a partnership to seek business opportunities in future mobility, the companies said Tuesday.Established in 1955, Taavura is a logistics service firm that transports ground and air cargo and also imports and distributes vehicles as well as providing public transportation services. The Israeli company has been seeking to transform into an innovative company in the Middle East, expanding its business to information te

The Seoul branch of Greenpeace has slammed South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor, claiming that its green car strategy falls short of global movements on climate change.In a statement published on Friday, the nongovernment organization argued that Hyundai’s plans to raise both production and sales capacity of electric vehicles to 850,000 a year by 2025 accounts for only 10.3 percent of its 2018 sales. Despite the global efforts to curb carbon emissions, the carmaker is still producing diesel

Hyundai Motor Group has unveiled the new design and specifications of its premium flagship sedan Grandeur’s sixth-generation model.The drastic design changes of the New Grandeur model were highly anticipated as Hyundai recently adopted the concept of “sensuous sportiness,” focusing on making the car body longer and sleeker, aiming for futuristic automotive designs.  For the first time, Hyundai has applied an integrated-type front grill and head lamp design, decorating the

Audi unveiled its bestselling premium business sedan A6’s fully changed version in South Korea on Wednesday.The all-wheel drive New Audi A6 comes in two trims: New Audi 45 TFSI Quattro and New Audi 45 TFSI Quattro Premium. Both models run on 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharger engines and use the seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission, producing 252 horsepower and a maximum 37.7 kilogram-meters torque. Audi said it has applied its new Audi design language, upgrading A6 with sportin

Hyundai Mobis, a top-tier auto parts maker in South Korea, will invest $50 million in Velodyne, a leading lidar company based in California, to achieve its aim of mass producing level 3 autonomous driving lidar system in two years, the company said Wednesday.By forging the partnership, the two will collaborate on new lidar system supply by integrating Velodyne’s latest lidar sensors with Hyundai Mobis’ cognitive software, it said in a statement.Velodyne, founded by a US inventor Davi

Posco’s chief visited Argentina to check on the ongoing construction of a demonstration plant that extracts lithium collected from a local salt lake last week, the company said Wednesday.Stressing the importance of the steelmaker’s operation in the South American country for its sustainable growth, Posco Chairman Choi Jeong-woo encouraged workers to complete the project safety and maintain the sound partnership with the community, the firm said.In an intermediate survey of lithium re

While admitting that Hyundai Motor has made a relatively late entry into future mobility, the de facto leader of the world’s fifth-largest carmaker said Tuesday that he hopes to turn the company into a provider of related services that connect people’s physical distance.“It is clear that we are going to continue manufacturing cars. I believe that in the future, cars will take account for 50 percent share (by modes of transport), private air vehicle 30 percent and robotics 20 pe

Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis speaks during the opening ceremony of EQ Future pavilion, which the German carmaker’s vision for future mobility, in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Tuesday. Psillakis said the carmaker aims for sales of plug-in hybrids or all-electric vehicles to make up more than 50 percent share by 2030, starting with electrifying the whole portfolio by 2022.The EQ Future Pavilion, which will be open until mid-January next year, will display various mobility s

BMW Group Korea unveiled Monday its premium compact car brand Mini’s face-lifted third generation New Mini Clubman, maintaining its distinctive style within the compact segment.The four-door compact wagon has gone through detailed changes, such as an expanded front grille and aerodynamically improved side mirror cap, but also keeps the Mini’s design heritage, such as the Union Jack-themed rear design, the automaker explained. For Cooper S and Cooper SD models, adaptive light-emitting

Hyundai Motor Group said Monday that it has developed the world’s first self-driving technology using AI-based machine learning, which detects the driver’s driving pattern and apply it to the smart cruise control system.In recent years, a host of carmakers have added advanced driver assistance systems to their models for safer and more convenient driving. One of the core technologies is adaptive cruise control, a function which makes a car slow down and speed up automatically to

Mercedes-Benz Korea, local importer and distributor of the German luxury carmaker, said Monday that it has launched its first pure electric car under its green car brand EQ.The new Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 4MATIC made its global debut last year in Europe, and in March at the Seoul Motor Show.  For enhanced customer experience, the company also introduced premium charging services and has expanded charging networks.The new EQC is powered by an 80-kWh lithium-ion battery developed by Daimler sub