Renault Korea upgrades Busan plant... producing electric vehicles for export

Renault Korea is transforming its Busan factory into a facility capable of producing electric vehicles. This is a measure to facilitate contract manufacturing of the 'Polestar 4' by Geely Automobile, a Chinese company that has formed a consortium with Renault Group. Some critics are concerned that the Busan factory might be turned into a forward base for Chinese electric vehicle production.

Renault Korea announced on the 31st that it will carry out a 'factory facility update' to install dedicated electric vehicle equipment at the Busan plant assembly factory. Once completed, the Busan plant will have the capacity to produce up to 70,000 to 80,000 electric vehicles annually. As the Renault Group has designated the Busan plant as a global electric vehicle production hub, the future scale of electric vehicle production is expected to grow further. Renault Korea signed a memorandum of understanding with the city of Busan in March and announced that it will invest 118 billion won by 2028 to establish the Busan plant as an electric vehicle production base.

Renault Korea plans to complete facility reinforcement and improvement work for electric vehicle production equipment at the Busan plant by the beginning of this year. The assembly plant, where key processes take place, will undergo new equipment installation over the course of January, following previous investments in new facilities for the body and paint shops.

During this period, the operation of the Busan plant will be temporarily suspended. If the work proceeds as scheduled, production will resume next month. Starting in the second half of the year, production of the Polestar 4 for North American exports will begin, marking the full-scale transition to an electric vehicle manufacturing base.

Polestar is an electric vehicle brand created through a joint venture between China's largest automaker Geely Auto and Sweden's Volvo. It is a type of 'fabless' company that develops vehicles without its own manufacturing facilities, with production handled by the parent companies such as Geely. This time, production will take place at Renault Korea's Busan plant, in which Geely holds a partial stake.

Because of this, some are concerned that Busan may become a manufacturing hub for Chinese electric vehicles. Donald Trump, who is running for president of the United States, has announced that he will raise tariffs on China to 60% and impose a standard 10% tariff on major allied countries including South Korea. If the Polestar 4 is produced in Busan rather than China, the tariff rate can be significantly reduced. In the automotive industry, it is said, "China has been seeking various routes to bypass US sanctions and tariffs, such as barriers. Busan has the world's second-largest transshipment port, Busan Port, which makes it convenient to export to the United States."

Regarding this, Renault Korea stated, "Since significant facility investments are underway, we will not settle for contract manufacturing," and added, "Although there are no current plans to produce electric vehicles in-house, there is a possibility that our first electric SUV, 'Aurora 3 (project name),' which is under development, may be produced at the Busan plant."

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It's good news that Renault is helping the Busan regional economy...
They say China is reaching out...
I don't think there will be any good outcomes related to China... I hope you handle things well and only positive results come out of it.