Car talk

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, talks with Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung during his visit to Hyundai Motor's manufacturing plant in Ulsan on Thursday. Chung promised to produce 1.85 million vehicles domestically, up by 14.3 percent compared to 2020, and export 1.08 million units this year, up 28.7 percent compared to 2020, as the country continuously suffers from falling exports amid growing economic uncertainties. That will be the largest export volume for the automaker since the Covid-19 pandemic. Constructed in 1968, Hyundai's Ulsan plant is the world’s largest single automobile plant with its own shipments dock, covering 25 percent of the automaker’s total global production capacity. The Ulsan plant made 1.42 million vehicles last year, some 66 percent of which were exported overseas. Hyundai, since last year, has been in the process of building an EV-dedicated facility at the Ulsan site with an investment of 2 trillion won ($1.52 billion), and it is scheduled to begin operation in 2025. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]