Renault Korea to manufacture EVs in city of Busan: city government

SEOUL (Reuters) – Renault Korea Motors plans to build infrastructure at its plant in the southeastern city of Busan to manufacture electric vehicles (EVs), the Busan city government said.

The automaker aims to produce 200,000 EVs a year at its Busan facilities, a statement issued by the city cited Renault Group Executive Vice President Guido Haak as saying.

The plan was unveiled when Haak met with Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon during a visit to France this week, where Haak called for South Korea’s support to turn the Busan plant into its future manufacturing hub, Park’s office said.

It was not immediately clear how much Renault planned to invest to build the EV production facilities.

Renault Korea did not have an immediate comment.

The announcement comes after Hyundai Motor said in May it will invest around 2 trillion won ($1.54 billion) in Ulsan, South Korea, to build a designated EV factory.

($1 = 1,294.7800 won)

(Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Ed Davies)