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According to Yonhap News,
(SEOUL=Yonhap News) German firms have agreed to invest US$100 million to nurture a car-tuning industry in a South Korean province, a local governor said Tuesday.
Through A-Seung Automotive Group, their South Korean dealer, four firms -- ABT Sportsline, Brabus, TECHART Autombildesign GmbH and AC Schnitzer -- will provide the technology and human resources necessary for a design center in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, that will train car-tuning professionals.
The investment will also be used for building a museum as well as a theme park that will help the South Korean public become more familiar with the idea of modifying their cars.
"We will help promote the tuning sector, especially as it is a new business area that can create more jobs," said the province's governor, Nam Kyung-pil, while visiting Kempten, Germany, for the investment deal.
The South Korean government announced plans earlier this year to ease regulations to help expand the local car-tuning market by nearly eight times by 2020. Drivers here are restricted from altering the performance or appearance of their cars without permission from state agencies.
The size of the local car-tuning market stood at 500 billion won ($469.7 million) as of end-2012, whereas the industry amounted to around 35 trillion won in the United States and 14 trillion won in Japan, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
yjkim8826@yna.co.kr
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Source: Yonhap News (October. 14, 2014)