Trade News

Kia is on a roll with electric vehicles. This year the automaker again upped its electrification target, saying it will sell 2.38 million full-electric and hybrid vehicles globally in 2030 — an increase of 300,000 vehicles over last year's target. EVs will make up about 1.6 million of those vehicles.

Kia also now plans to launch 15 EV models by 2027 — one more than previously announced.

In the U.S., the automaker will launch eight EVs by 2029 and convert half of its new-vehicle sales to electric power from gasoline by the early 2030s.

First up is the EV9, a new flagship EV and a three-row crossover that offers larger families a legitimate kid-hauler option. It also will be the first domestically built EV from Kia after production moves to its assembly plant in West Point, Ga., next year. Eventually, the EV9 will likely benefit from the joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and battery maker SK On.

Kia Mexico, the automaker's factory in Monte…

Hyundai Motor Group is laying down deeper roots in the U.S. The automaker's Hyundai, Genesis and Kia brands are localizing their planned electric vehicle production while they continue to battle for market share with their roster of crossovers.

The group has committed $5.5 billion to build an EV and battery plant outside Savannah, Ga., called the Metaplant, which is under construction and expected to open in January 2025. This year the company said it will partner with LG Energy Solution for onsite battery assembly.

Six models are planned for the plant, which has a capacity to build 300,000 EVs a year and the ability to produce up to 500,000, depending on demand. Three of those models are likely to be Genesis vehicles. Production of the Ioniq 7, Hyundai's three-row electric kid hauler, could also move to Georgia. In late 2026, both Kia and Hyundai are expected to launch midsize electric pickups geared toward the U.S. market; both could be candidates for Metapl…

Genesis has spent the past 24 months positioning its lineup, growing its sales volume, launching electric vehicles and opening standalone retail locations — all steps dealers say are imperative to its credibility as an authentic premium brand.

While a convertible roadster or crossover coupe are likely part of its road map, its lineup is expected to remain curated and small, with a sprinkling of niche products that build on its proven formula of sporty sedans and sleek crossovers.

Genesis may start moving its vehicles onto electric platforms in 2026, coinciding with the sell-down of gasoline models. Its ramp-up of launch activities for EVs could start in 2024.

Hyundai Motor North America CEO Jose Muñoz has said the Genesis brand could benefit the most from the Metaplant, Hyundai Motor Group's EV and battery complex under construction outside Savannah, Ga.

Three of the six models that will be assembled at the Metaplant could wear the Genesis badge…

Hyundai Motor Co. has made important steps over the past year to reposition itself as a leading electric vehicle maker.

By 2030, Hyundai Motor Group expects half of its U.S. sales to be EVs. The Hyundai brand is enjoying early success with its two dedicated EVs — the Ioniq 5 crossover and the Ioniq 6 sedan. Its revamped second-generation Kona EV goes on sale this year offering shoppers a more affordable option in the compact crossover segment.

The group is making large EV investments in the U.S. with its $5.5 billion Metaplant, now under construction near Savannah, Ga. Six battery-powered models will be built at the complex, which will have the capacity to churn out 300,000 EVs to start.

For now, Hyundai's mix of electrified offerings in the Santa Fe and Tucson crossovers and the Sonata and Elantra sedans is helping boost its market share of green products. The Tucson has plug-in and conventional hybrid variants, and the sportier N Line trim level is mo…

General Motors plans to eliminate about 200 engineering positions, though the employees in those roles will be able to move to other jobs.

In a statement, a GM spokesperson said the automaker "is taking steps to rebalance our engineering resources to better align with our growth strategy. This will require a small number of engineers to move to other parts of the organization over the next several months. We will work with those who are affected and provide them with an opportunity to apply for open positions."

CEO Mary Barra said on GM's second-quarter earnings call in July that the company is launching a strategy called "Winning with Simplicity," which is expected to lower design and engineering costs and reduce complexity in vehicle orders and manufacturing. GM is aiming to cut trim levels in half, which "results in fewer part numbers to simplify marketing, engineering, manufacturing, while maintaining the best features customers want," Barra said.

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Head-up displays are becoming common in new vehicles — but now they're getting more advanced. Israeli startup Spectralics and Envisics of the U.K. are among the players developing ways to enhance head-up displays with augmented reality technology. A Spectralics system uses a thin optical film layered over a vehicle's windshield to display images, safety alerts, navigation prompts and other notifications. Volvo has invested in the supplier. The technology "opens up new possibilities to create a more immersive experience," Michael Schön, technology lead at Volvo Cars' R&D Open Innovation Arena, told Automotive News.

Seven years ago, Del Grande Dealer Group was as far away from digitized as possible. Daily sales numbers, old automaker statements, payroll, inventory reporting and pricing mechanisms for new and used cars were mostly compiled by hand, recalled CEO Jeremy Beaver.

"We felt like there were a lot of inefficiencies in data integration," Beaver told Automotive News. "It would take hours to calculate a spreadsheet and send it out to the organization."

Beaver hired Jagdish Rajan to help solve the problem. As Del Grande's first-ever chief technology officer, he was charged with modernizing how the group gathered and used its data to make daily operations and processes more efficient. That mission has succeeded on multiple levels, Beaver said, thanks to Rajan and his team's creation of what's known as a data lake — a virtual repository that holds massive amounts of data from multiple sources in the organization, which has stores across Northern California.

Using…

Automotive lidar technology, which uses lasers to map the driving environment, has been criticized for being too expensive to produce at scale for the self-driving vehicle sector. Many industry observers believe future iterations of the technology must have fewer moving parts and use smaller, solid-state lidar for widespread adoption. Lidar makers are developing products that move toward those goals, with self-trucking company Aurora Innovation one that's heading in that direction. In July, the Pittsburgh company said it integrated optical components of its proprietary lidar sensors onto a series of semiconductor chips and demonstrated their functionality. Integrating lidar technologies onto a chip now enables mass production of its sensors, Aurora said.

The transportation industry has been working for years to cut back on carbon emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles or eliminate them through electrification. Michigan startup Remora has a different solution: capturing emissions emitted by semi-trucks as they are driven. The company developed a retrofitting technology it says captures the carbon dioxide emitted from a truck's exhaust, preventing it from entering the atmosphere. That carbon can then be turned back into diesel use to power the truck via a system powered only by renewable energy, creating a circular solution preventing more CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

Automakers and suppliers are hunting for greener versions of basic materials that go into their vehicles and parts. Many basic materials have remained the same for decades, but a new determination to improve its environmental impact is spurring the industry to make changes in the way future vehicles are built. In November, Forvia, the world's seventh-largest parts maker, launched Materi'act — a brand dedicated to developing and manufacturing sustainable materials such as bio-based foils, low-CO2 carbon fibers and "green steel" that emits less carbon in production. Continental, meanwhile, has launched several green surface materials in recent years, including Xpreshn. The supplier says Xpreshn can line car doors and instrument panels and be made with green or recycled materials. Steelmakers are also moving toward the production of green steel.

Now that automatic emergency braking is becoming a common safety feature across the industry, the next shoe to drop is likely to be automatic emergency steering. Several automakers and suppliers are developing the technology, in which vehicle sensors and artificial intelligence detect an impending collision that can't be avoided by only braking. In response, a smart steering system takes control of the wheel to reposition the vehicle to avoid or reduce the impact. According to Nexteer Automotive, the feature will be a natural outgrowth of electronically controlled steer by wire once manufacturers adopt that technology in future autos.

For years, automakers, suppliers and technology companies have been creating more software-driven and high-tech vehicle cockpits. And the results today are cabin environments that are highly technical and complex. But many companies are looking to simplify what the industry has done. Diverse technologies won't go away in next-generation vehicles — but how drivers and passengers interact with them will be simpler and less distracting, many believe. New digital cockpits, likely fitted with pillar-to-pillar touchscreens, will integrate entertainment, vehicle data and comfort features through software and artificial intelligence. One small glimpse into what's coming: German electronics supplier Preh has rolled out a physical, rotary knob that adheres to digital touchscreens as a way to make multifeature cockpits easier to navigate.