Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- South Korea's Hyundai's auto group joined hands with the holding company of Hankook Tire to build the country's largest driving center that will become an iconic place for the promotion of new technologies as well as a test-driving track where customers can try a variety of new cars.

Hyundai's auto group said in a statement that the driving center in Taean County would be about the size of 176 football fields. The driving center at Hankook Tire's test track that is currently under construction will be constructed by the second half of 2022.

"We will build a top-of-the-class driving experience center so that our customers can enjoy the value and joy of life through cars," Hyundai Motor Group's product division head Thomas Schemera was quoted as saying.

The driving experience center includes a total of eight tracks and dynamic zones where drivers can experience the handling of cars, Hyundai said, adding driving technique courses will offer driving lessons for intermediate and advanced drivers. The center will have a 9,602 square-meter customer lounge that can accommodate 300 people at a kids' room, a resting area, a brand shop and a promotional area for Hyundai's new technologies.

Currently, German automaker BMW is the most well-known operator of a driving center that is open to customers in South Korea. The BMW driving center located in the western port city of Incheon offers advanced driving technique courses as well as guided test drives on on-road and off-road tracks.

Hyundai has a similar facility in Goyang, a northwestern satellite city of Seoul, that offers test drives and simple maintenance courses. For customers who wish to push Hyundai's Genesis high-performance cars to their limit, a driving experience program is available at a private speed track in Inje some 124 kilometers (77 miles) northeast of Seoul.