The Korean government announced plans Tuesday to streamline its underperforming programs in efforts to advance the local unmanned vehicle industry.It will focus first on developing "common technologies" crucial to drones, driverless cars and unmanned vessels, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.The government has invested around 284 billion won ($241 million) in the related sector over the past four years."But it's evaluated to lag behind China and advanced nations in p

Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said its new Mexico plant started operation Monday. Located in Pesqueria in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, the plant will churn out about 100,000 K3 compact sedans -- known as Forte there -- this year. The carmaker said it plans to increase the plant’s annual production capacity to 300,000 vehicles in the future.  Kia Motors’ new plant in Pesqueria, Mexico (Kia Motors)“The plant in Mexico is not only pivotal to sales here, but also cruc

Korean-born senior Bentley designer will be responsible for the exterior look of Hyundai’s luxury Genesis cars

Korea's government said Monday it will order a recall of hundreds of Nissan vehicles sold in Korea after it found that the Japanese carmaker had fabricated emissions results.The Ministry of Environment said the Qashqai model of the Japanese automaker was found to have faked its emissions results by using a so-called defeat device. A total of 814 cars have been sold here from November to last week.The announcement came after the government launched a nationwide probe into 20 models of diesel cars

Hyundai Motor, the nation’s largest automaker, has revealed the artistic rendering for its third “Hyundai Motorstudio’’ to open next year. “The company will open its largest brand experience center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in early 2017,’’ a company spokesperson said.  An artistic rendering of the 3rd Hyundai Motorstudio to be open in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in 2017 (Hyundai Motor)“In an effort to raise brand value, Hyundai has built its own brand studios at home and abroad under the lea

Trend-savvy Korean consumers get bored with market dominant German car brands

The top research and development executives from Hyundai Motor Group and Mercedes-Benz will share their views and insights on future cars, the current hot topic in the global auto industry, at a gala dinner to be held at the BEXCO in Busan on June 1.The presentations will be made a day before the 2016 Busan International Motor show to be held from June 2 to 10. The co-organizers include the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association an

The Seoul prosecutors’ office said on Friday it searched Audi Volkswagen Korea’s headquarters office and two of its PR agencies this week on allegations that the automaker cheated on its fuel-efficiency test results. “We have grounds to believe the test results submitted to the Korean government were rigged,” said the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, referring to documents sent to the related ministries in 2013 and 2014.  (Yonhap)The prosecution said it recently discovered a discrepan

The nation’s largest automotive company Hyundai Motor Group offered a peep into its wearable robot technologies. Photos, posted on the group‘s blog Friday, show wearable suits like those seen from “Iron Man” movies, although Hyundai’s don‘t cover the whole body. The wearer’s physical strength increases by simply donning them, according to the company. “The wearable robots, being developed with the aim of mass production, can be used for various purposes,” Hyundai Motor Group’s spokesperson told

Dongwon F&B has begun a voluntary recall of its mild tuna products in response to consumer concerns over an unidentified black substance in some of the cans, the company said Friday.The recalled product is the brand’s Mild Tuna 210 g, marked with expiration dates from March 23 to April 25, 2021. The company said that about 1.17 million cans will be collected from consumers and retailers.Dongwon said through a statement that the black substance was caused by “high heat in the manufacturing proces

Hankook Tire, the country’s largest tire-maker, was recently chosen as a supplier for Model 3, the first mass market brand of U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla, according to local news reports.The reports said the EV-only tire of Hankook was picked based on the results of a recent performance test conducted by Tesla.  Tesla’s Model 3 EVThe company, however, declined to comment on the deal, mentioning its confidentiality agreement with each client.Despite the company’s response, shares of

KT, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier, is likely to be chosen as electric vehicle maker Tesla’s partner for telematics technology solutions, according to industry sources familiar with the matter.“KT is highly likely to partner with Tesla to work in this field,” a source told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.Tesla reportedly plans to roll out its flagship models Model X and Model S in Korea early next year ahead of its release of less expensive Model 3 probably in 2018. Telematics technolo

Hankook Tire, the country’s largest tire maker, was recently chosen as a supplier for Model 3, the first mass market brand of U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla, according to local news reports.The news reports said the EV-only tire of Hankook was picked based on the results of a recent performance test conducted by Tesla.  Tesla’s Model 3 EVThe company, however, declined to comment on the deal, mentioning a confidentiality agreement with every client on a contract.Despite the company’s re

More than half the employees working in the nation’s automotive industry said they would consider a Tesla car for their future purchase of an electric vehicle, a survey found Wednesday. Blind, a social app provider that operates anonymous bulletin boards for employees of a specific company or an industry overall, conducted the survey on 164 members of its auto section. According to the survey, 53.7 percent of respondents said fully-electric vehicles would not become a general trend in the nation

Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors saw their monthly car sales in Mexico hit an all-time high in April, industry data showed Wednesday.According to the data by a local automotive association, the two Korean carmakers sold a combined 7,086 units in Mexico last month, the largest since Hyundai Motor entered the market in May 2014. Their previous monthly sales record was 6,128 units set in March.Hyundai Motor sold 3,053 units in April, while Kia Motors sold 4,033 units in the same m