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Hyundai Motor said on May 30 it will invest 419 billion won (US$388 million) to construct an engine head production facility at its existing Alabama plant. Engine heads to be produced at the Alabama plant will be used in new models of the Sonata and Elantra sedans. The head machining plant is scheduled for completion in November, Korea’s biggest carmaker said in a statement. The Alabama plant will have further room to produce engine products in addition to its two existing engine assembly lines. Hyundai plans to begin producing the Theta III engine for the Sonata sedan and the Santa...

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's prosecution on Thursday requested an arrest warrant for embattled Chairman Chung Mong-koo of the Hyundai Motor Group, who is accused of creating a huge slush fund to bribe politicians and government officials for business favors. Chung's only son and heir Eui-sun, the president of Kia Motors Corp., will be indicted without physical detention on the same charges, prosecutors said. Kia is a key affiliate of the country's second-largest conglomerate. "We sought a warrant in the morning to detain Chairman Chung on charges of embezzling 100 billion won from the company coffers to...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, announced Monday it will set up an auto factory in the state of Georgia that will begin production in 2009 and employ 2,500 workers. Kia said the $1.2 billion facility will be its first manufacturing plant in the United States. Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and President and CEO Euisun Chung made the announcement at a ceremony in Seoul. Locations in Mississippi and Tennessee had also contended for the plant. The facility is expected to produce 300,000 vehicles per year at maximum capacity, Kia said. Kia also said that...

Okay, Jesus Christ would not have driven a sport utility. He would have had a 4x4 pickup with crew cab. It's Salem all over again. This time the alleged witches are sport utility vehicles, said to be the work of the Devil. More particularly, the government's chief safety official says SUVs are too dangerous. The Wall Street Journal says in an article: "Auto Makers Start To Back Away From Big SUVs." The greenies say the big cars heat up the earth, the know-nothings blame them for Arab terrorism, and the yahoos figure that Jesus wouldn't drive one. Where does all...