► CAR visits the Seoul Mobility Show
► Show celebrates 30 years in 2025
► Dominated by Hyundai, Kia and Genesis
Korea’s annual Seoul Mobility Show celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2025, and CAR has been on the ground. The show acts as a trade expo for all things automotive, technology and mobility with (naturally) Hyundai Group being front and centre.
Of course, a pretty sizeable amount of the floor space is taken up by Hyundai Group. As well as the car brands Hyundai, Kia and Genesis all featuring the biggest stands at the expo, Hyundai’s heavy machinery also had its own spot.
That then leads to tuners attending the show with their own versions. A particular highlight was CN Motors, which transforms cars like the Kia Carnival MPV and (more relevantly for Europe) the Hyundai Santa Fe into super taxis with lounging recliners in the second row and wood floors.
Plenty of 21st century themes were being explored, too, with guests being able to talk to AI assistants and even spot Boston Dynamics’ robots wandering around. Both, in my view, have a slightly off-putting Uncanny Valley feeling when interacting with them, though.
Keep reading for our quick debrief of the most important new cars at this year’s show.
Seoul Mobility Show: A-Z of key new cars revealed
BYD
Seal and Yangwang
As BYD’s reach extends out of China, it’s installing a presence in other countries. Nothing new was really revealed, but the show featured its latest Seal models as well as the Yangwang U8 SUV and U9 supercar.
GENESIS
X Gran Coupe and Convertible
A double-whammy of near-production concept cars that gave Genesis’ design team the change to play around with the shape and structure of the brand’s large G90 executive saloon. Eye-popping colour combos have been inspired by Mediterranean olives and cabernet sauvignon.
HYUNDAI
Ioniq 6 facelift
A sleeker and less busy design for Hyundai’s ‘streamliner’ EV, which senior vice president and Hyundai design centre boss says is the ‘one we should have done.’ The new look is distilled and neater, and makes a different use of that ducktail rear end. An N-Line spec also launches.
Ioniq 6 N
Not physically at the show, but the first official confirmation that it’s coming was right here. The new 6 N will be officially unveiled at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, benefiting from the same performance engineering as the 5 N. Expect a widebody stance, optional rear wing choices and the potential for loads of smiles.
Insteroid
An Inster that’s been injected with all sorts and is designed to be ‘a poster car’ for the yoof of today. Over-exaggerated details include an enormous front splitter and a rear wing so big you can do your ironing on it. It’s just a bit of fun for Hyundai’s European design team, so don’t expect some Inster N interpretation anytime soon.
Nexo
Hyundai is committing to the hydrogen passenger car, even if other brands go quiet on developing the FCEVs of the next generation. Technically, this NEXO is the first production car with inspiration from the Vision N 74, and debuts Hyundai’s new ‘Art of Steel’ design language that’ll be on future cars, too.
KIA
PV5
The home launch of the brand’s push into commercial vehicles and family-friendly minibuses. We’ve already seen the new PV5 a few times, launching as an electric van and MPV that Kia says is very flexible.
MINI
JCW
Mini has a reasonable presence in Korea, given the kitch-ness of its design and the fact its cars are smaller than most others in the market – perfect for younger Seoul dwellers. Here, the latest John Cooper Works models launched.
MERCEDES
Maybach
Given the high-end clientele in Korea that love to be chauffeured around sprawling Seoul, the ultra-luxe Merc sub-brand was out in force with its wares.
New G-Class
A Korean market launch for the updated G, with a stand almost entirely dedicated to the launch of the latest model. Both combustion and electric models were on show, with a cool demo stand of a G-Class covered in mud… on one side.