LG Energy Solution reported a twofold jump in operating profit last year, driven by increased demand for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems, the South Korean battery maker said Friday. Revenue rose 43.4 percent to 25.6 trillion won ($20.8 billion) in 2022, and its operating profit hit 1.2 trillion won, a 57.9 percent increase on-year. Sales and operating profit both hit new heights last year. “We were able to record the highest annual revenue as the shipments of our pr

Industry Jan. 27, 2023

Hyundai Motor posted a record-high operating profit of 9.8 trillion won ($8 billion) last year as it sold almost 4 million vehicles across the world, the South Korean automaker said Thursday. Despite the global economic downturn, Hyundai Motor’s yearly sales also recorded 142.5 trillion won, up 21.2 percent on year to set a new high. With operating profit having shot up 47 percent on-year to an all-time high for the whole of 2022, the automaker said it was thanks to the strong dollar and i

Mobility Jan. 26, 2023

Hanwha Solutions on Thursday announced that it has signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft for solar energy projects, marking the first collaboration between a global solar supplier and an information and communication technology behemoth to reduce carbon emissions and boost the clean energy economy. Under the partnership, Hanwha Solutions, a chemical and energy company under South Korea’s seventh largest conglomerate Hanwha Group, said the two sides will push for various solar energ

Industry Jan. 26, 2023

LG Energy Solution on Wednesday denied earlier reports on the alleged decision to put a pause on the joint plan with General Motors to build a fourth battery cell manufacturing plant for electric vehicles in the US. “The two companies are still in discussions about Ultium Cells’ fourth plant in the US and no specific decisions have been made at this point,” an official at LG Energy Solution told The Korea Herald. Ultium Cells, a joint venture established by LG Energy Solution a

Industry Jan. 25, 2023

Global cumulative sales of Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicles have surpassed the 1 million milestone, according to the South Korean automaker Tuesday. The automaker achieved the milestone 11 years after it began selling EVs in 2011. Hyundai Motor and its premium brand Genesis have sold 601,448 EVs while Kia has sold 420,836 EVs. The carmaker sold 236 units of its first EV, the BlueOn, in 2011. EV sales figures began to show meaningful growth when Kia released Soul EV, a compact sport

Mobility Jan. 24, 2023

Scientists have developed the world’s first technology to recycle clothing waste by converting discarded fiber into usable materials, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology said Wednesday. A group of researchers led by Cho Joung-mo, a senior researcher at the KRICT, found a screening technology that can isolate recyclable materials from clothing waste by using the chemical characteristics of dyes. The research team also came up with a recycling technology to convert separated

Technology Jan. 18, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group on Wednesday launched the all-new Kona, a second-generation subcompact sport utility vehicle, with an aim to set new standards for small SUVs. “Kona is Hyundai Motor’s most iconic SUV. We took the creative design of the existing model and applied a new method of designing the electric vehicle first and putting it on the internal combustion engine model later to create a more futuristic design,” said Chang Jae-hoon, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor, in a me

Mobility Jan. 18, 2023

South Korea topped Bentley’s Asia-Pacific market in 2022 as Korean customers purchased almost 40 percent of all Bentley vehicles sold in the region last year, Bentley Motors Korea said Tuesday. Citing the data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the high-end automaker said Korean customers bought a total of 775 Bentleys, about a 53 percent increase on year. It marked the country’s second consecutive year to have posted its best sales figure after 506 Ben

Mobility Jan. 17, 2023

LG Energy Solution and Honda have completed the establishment of a joint venture to build a battery manufacturing plant in the US, officials announced Friday. The joint venture, tentatively named L-H Battery Company, marks the first collaboration between a South Korean battery maker and a Japanese automaker. Friday’s official announcement was a follow-up to the two companies’ previous agreement in August. According to the announcement, the two companies will invest a total of $4.4 bi

Mobility Jan. 13, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group has applied digital therapeutics technology into an automobile for victims of child abuse to have an in-the-car treatment experience. According to the South Korean automaker Friday, the healing vehicle named “iCAREcar” has been developed with Hyundai Motor’s minivan Staria and its interior has been optimized to offer psychological counseling inside the car. Under the theme of "Heals on Wheels," the group's latest social campaign project was co

Mobility Jan. 13, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun has been named the MotorTrend Person of the Year, the South Korean carmaker announced Thursday. With the award, Chung topped the US automobile magazine's list of the 50 most influential figures in the global automotive industry. He was ranked fifth in last year’s rankings. MotorTrend acknowledged Chung for leading Hyundai Motor Group into a new age, underscoring that the vehicles developed under his leadership are notable for their &ldq

Mobility Jan. 12, 2023

Hanwha Solutions will invest 3.2 trillion won ($2.57 billion) in expanding its solar energy businesses and building additional facilities to complete the manufacturing line in the United States through next year, the South Korean company said Wednesday. The company said it plans to set up a solar hub that will be capable of producing four of the five core parts -- ingot, wafer, cell and module -- in the solar energy industry. The hub will feature two different sites in the state of Georgia. Hanw

Industry Jan. 11, 2023

American carmaker Ford has selected LG Energy Solution as a new partner to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Turkey, scrapping its previous deal with SK On for the battery manufacturing project, according to industry sources here Tuesday. One source on condition of anonymity told The Korea Herald that the reason Ford decided to part ways with SK On was likely due to the battery maker’s relatively low yield rate. “SK On’s battery yield rate is estimated at a maximum of

Industry Jan. 10, 2023

Korea Herald correspondent   LAS VEGAS -- Mercedes-Benz will look to introduce its newly announced high-power charging network to South Korea by the end of 2024, the global carmaker’s chief technology officer said Thursday. “Korea is a huge market … it’s the fourth largest market for us,” Markus Schafer, Mercedes-Benz Group AG board member and chief technology officer, told a group of Korean and Japanese reporters in an interview conducted a few hours after th

Mobility Jan. 9, 2023

LAS VEGAS -- The exhibition of SK Group, South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, drew the eyes of visitors and participants at CES 2023 held in Las Vegas from Thursday to Sunday. “They set up these black walls. I can’t really see what’s inside there,” said Chris Tomlin, an auto mechanic based in Los Angeles, as he stood in line to enter the exhibition area. There were others getting in the waiting line as the inside of the exhibition was not entirely visible from

Technology Jan. 8, 2023