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Looking out from the bridge of the Morning Christina, the view is filled with thousands and thousands of factory-fresh Hyundai cars.

Up to 6000 of them are being loaded onto the 11 decks of the 380-metre-long vessel, bound for California, across the Pacific Ocean. “It’ll take about 13 days,” says the ship’s captain. “Then we’ll come back and do it again.”

This is the final step of a unique process in car manufacturing that is based here at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant on the south-eastern coast of South Korea. With a dock literally on site, cars are built, tested and shipped all in one seamless operation. 

How many cars are produced here? A staggering 1.5 million a year – that’s almost double the UK’s 2024 output from 25 factories, and it would have been enough to fulfil 98% of all new car sales in Italy last year. Welcome, then, to the world’s largest vehicle plant.

Set on a 1200-acre site (the same size as the pretty Bedfordshire town of Tilsworth), the Ulsan plant’s positioning is crucial to its effectiveness. As well as being home to five factories plus an engine and transmission plant, it is the only automotive production facility in the world to have a dedicated on-site port – one that ships 75% of its yearly output to more than 200 countries around the globe.

On site, 17 different models are produced, from the Hyundai Santa Fe and Tucson to the entire Genesis line-up. Production lines run for 18 hours a day. A sixth EV-only plant is on schedule to open next year, and it will build the upcoming Genesis GV90. 

The Ulsan plant was opened in 1968 just a year after Hyundai itself was formed, and the site was originally established as a small Ford assembly facility, where Cortinas were hand-built for the local market. 

Today, Ulsan is a behemoth, and on entering the site its size is immediately obvious. Factory after factory rolls past our window, as well as a lot of trees (around 600,000 of them), until we pull up at Plant 5. Built in 1979, the facility originally produced golf carts – by hand. 

Today, the Genesis G70, G80 and G90 saloons are made alongside the Hyundai Palisade and hydrogen-fuelled Nexo. Electric batteries for the G80 are also made here.

After they roll off the production line, and following a quality control check, finished cars are darted away to a huge car park at the dockside. We follow their very short route and pull up alongside the huge Eukor roll-on/roll-off transport vessel. Such is the size of the ship that a Suzuki Carry is used for transport inside.

Cars are being loaded onto the ship via a steep ramp at the rear. Just minutes after a number of Elantras have blasted up it, the drivers – now on foot – race back down the ramp and jump into a Hyundai Staria to be driven to their next machines.

It’s a daily process, with one ship leaving the port every 24 hours. This unique way of producing and exporting cars saves both money and time, a factory manager tells us, and is a key reason why Hyundai can make so many vehicles each year. 

The city of Ulsan that has grown around the plant is now home to 1.1 million people (roughly the same population as Birmingham). When ground was broken on the factory site in 1968, just 30,000 lived in the area – fewer than the 34,000 employed by the plant alone today. 

Five years prior, Ulsan was primarily a fishing port. Now it is South Korea’s industrial hub, formed by Hyundai Ulsan, neighbouring Hyundai Heavy Industries – the world’s largest ship-building company that was spun off from its parent in 2002 – and the world’s third-largest oil refinery, owned by SK Energy.

The company’s importance is visible across the city: there’s a motorway named after Hyundai’s founder and many institutions – a hospital, a school, restaurants – bear the Hyundai name. And, of course, there’s the vast port facility. 

The port, the factory and the city that’s grown around it are testament to Hyundai’s incredible ambition. Our guide sums it up: “Ulsan is the city that made Hyundai what it is today.” 

Volvo has pushed heavily into the development of 'software-defined vehicles' in recent years – and the firm's software engineering boss will join an Autocar webinar to explain the growing importance of the technology - and you can sign up here for free now.

As its role in vehicle development and functionality becomes ever-more important, there are huge questions over what software means for how we use our cars - and what the future holds.

Hosted by Autocar and technology giant Siemens, the webinar on 25 June will look at answering questions such as how manufacturers can upgrade cars post-purchase, unlocking the untapped potential already built into cars and more.

Siemens is a technology leader with a significant influence on the mobility sphere, and the firm's head of automotive, battery and mobility, Uday Senapati, will take part in the webinar alongside Volvo Cars software engineering boss Alwin Bakkenes. They'll be joined by Autocar deputy editor Felix Page and another special industry guest – to be announced in the coming weeks – for an insightful and interactive deep-dive into the world of automotive software.

Sign up here to watch for free

Mark Tisshaw, Autocar editor, said: “Throughout our collaboration with Siemens, it has become clear just how deeply connected the company is to the automotive industry and how influential its relationships are at every level.

“We are thrilled to partner with Siemens to tell the stories of the industry's most impressive individuals and companies at this year's Autocar Awards ceremony and to hear how the company's insights and expertise are shaping the future of the car in our upcoming webinar.”

The webinar will be broadcast live on Wednesday 25 June from 14:00-15:00, with the opportunity to put questions to our expert guests.

As part of the collaboration, Siemens has been named as the sponsor of the 2025 Autocar Awards, which will celebrate the people and organisations shaping the future of automotive - as well as the best cars on sale.

This year's awards ceremony takes place on 24 June, where Autocar and Siemens will name the industry's most innovative and impactful individuals, and provide a platform for them to tell their stories. 

Sign up here to watch for free

Meet the panellists 

Uday Senapati

As head of automotive, battery and mobility for the EMEA region at Siemens Advanta, Uday is helping to expand the company's portfolio f consulting and implementation services for the e-mbobility industry. 

Having worked at General Motors, JLR, Bentley and Group Lotus, he has a wealth of automotive experience that he will leverage in his efforts to establish Siemens as a leading consulting and integration partner for the increasing number of businesses making a strategy shift towards electric mobility. 

Alwin Bakkenes

Alwin is head of software engineering and R&D at Volvo Cars. He leads the team responsible for development of the technology stack at the heart of Volvo's in-car systems and wider user experience.

He has experience in product strategy and programme execution that helps guide Volvo's development of next-level safety technology - working towards autonomy and a software-defined platform. 

Audi is set to reveal a new concept car later this year that will preview an all-new look for the brand under design boss Massimo Frascella.

Frascella joined Audi from JLR 18 months ago and his impact on the German brand will be seen for the first time before 2025 is out, CEO Gernot Döllner has confirmed.

Döllner did not reveal the size or type of car the concept would preview but did say that Audi would only produce concept cars that have true production intent and it would be “a bold step” for the brand and its design.

“We won’t show studies anymore,” said Döllner. “When we show things, [they] will be substantial. Every concept we show will have a product decision behind it.”

The new design for Audi “would look to the future and the strengths of Audi design, for clarity and to bring that to the future, not copying the past”.

While the new look would take some time to make its way to the road, perhaps 2028 at the earliest working on a three-year production cycle, Döllner said the new Audis in the meantime - the brand is in the middle of rolling out 20 new cars over three years - are machines he is “positive about and excellent products” but “we need a bigger step as a brand”.

Döllner praised the impact Frascella was having on Audi and said that the pair of them had “a clear vision for Audi design”.

He added: “I’m really happy and impressed with that already he has brought on in a year at Audi.”