U.S. emission rules to pose trouble for European brands...in South Korea?
Starting next year, European automakers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz are going to get a double-whammy selling their vehicles in South Korea. Already required to meet tough European standards for their diesel vehicles sold in the country, the automakers must now comply to U.S. standards for any of their gasoline-powered vehicles as well. The government enacted the requirement as it fights to reduce air pollution. American automakers, interestingly, may benefit from the ruling as their rivals scramble to comply to both rules.[Source: The Korean Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Glenn A. 5:02PM (5/24/2006)
Now, that just proves how smart the South Koreans are. If cleaner diesel cars are available (yes, using the current Euro standards) then use that as the standard. If cleaner gasoline cars are available (yes, using the current US standards) then use that as the standard.
This gives Hyundai and Kia advantages in that they will be able to take green "bragging rights" on all cars they sell worldwide, it will presumably mean simplification of production instead of possibly dozens of emission equipment standards for various countries.
Kind of like Hyundai took the safety factor and made it important (side airbags on all cars) recently, and their super warrantee.
Now, all they need to do at Hyundai (other than get past the scandal - but then DCX also has a scandal brewing, too) is to get moving to put more US production into place (to reduce their costs due to our dollar sinking compared to the Won) and add hybrids.
Hey, Hyundai. Ever thought of buying out a tiny proportion of Mitsubishi and having Accent, Accent Hybrid and Elantra cars built in Normal, Illinois?
I know the US built GEMMA 1.8/2.0/2.4 liter 4 cylinder engines (built at a Hyundai/Mitsubishi/DCX joint venture in Dundee, Michigan) would not fit in the Accent, but I bet the 2.0 might fit in the Elantra (though it is a different engine family than the current Elantra engine; the GEMMA type 2.4 engine is utilized in the Sonata, though currently 4 cyl. Sonatas hail from South Korea - move that production to Alabama, use the US built engines).
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Jane Austen 8:50AM (5/26/2006)
Is that what liberalism is about? Bragging?
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