Busan International Mobility Show (BIMOS) 2024

In recent years I’ve become somewhat of a car enthusiast, but for now, it’s mostly about how cool a car looks. Keep that in mind reading further, as you wont find any technical details and a flood of EV-mobility buzzwords. This article is to get an overall feel of the Busan International Mobility Show.

Before the event, I found little information online, leaving me unsure of what to expect. I reached out to the only social media channel I could find for ticket information, but to this day, I have not received any response. I wasn't excited enough to buy tickets until the very last day. I didn't have any plans, so I decided to pay a visit. It was only 12,000 won anyway.

BIMOS is held every other year in BEXCO. It was first held in 2001 to promote the regional automotive industry. It’s no surprise that it prominently featured Korean brands like Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, and Renault Samsung Motors. In 2022, over 100 companies participated, and around 500,000 visitors attended the show. The feeling I got from my visit on Saturday was that 2024 was probably similar to that.

Hyundai's booth was truly living up to their name, which means "modern" in Korean. The star attractions in Hyundai’s booth were the N Vision 74 concept, the Ioniq 5 N, and the Casper Electric.

The N Vision 74 pays homage to the Hyundai Pony Coupe from 1974. The car went viral on the internet, unfortunately it will not be more than a concept car.

The Ionic 5 N is considered to be the best and most entertaining EV to drive by many car reviewers. In my opinion the Ionic 5 is one of the coolest affordable cars built in recent years.

For the Casper Electric they had a driving experience. You could ride along with a driver on the short track, though the long waiting list prevented me from experiencing it firsthand.

Kia made waves with the launch of the EV3, a much smaller sibling to the EV9, which was also displayed. I was happy to see Kia applied the blocky design from the EV9 to the EV3, and not the design of the EV6. This gives me hope for a medium-sized blocky car, so I don’t have to get six kids to justify buying an EV9.

Genesis, which I started to love while living in Korea, unveiled their concept luxury SUV, drawing comparisons to the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and Maybach S-class. While its current form is an acquired taste, there's potential for the production model.

The G90 Black Edition was another standout. The G90 is a very elegant car, but with its all-black exterior and interior, it gives it an even more sleek and sophisticated aura that truly sets it apart.

As icing on the cake, Genesis displayed its Gran Berlinetta, a full-scale model concept car produced for the Vision Gran Turismo game. I must say it looks like a car designed for a game, but it looks cool nonetheless. What didn’t make the stage was any of the new Magma-line cars. Magma is Genesis’ AMG and M competitor. But I wasn’t lucky enough to see the G80 in Magma orange just yet.

If you didn’t know already, Renault Korea is a subsidiary of the French automaker Renault. During the East Asian Financial Crisis Renault bought the majority of shares of Samsung Motors, while Samsung maintained a minority ownership.

Renault Korea launched its Grand Koleos. In Korea, the regular Koleos has been known as the QM6. The Grand Koleos, as the name suggests, is larger. The regular Koleos is the size of a Kia Sportage, whereas the Grand Koleos is the size of the Kia Sorento. I wasn’t very impressed after sitting in the passenger seat and therefore failed to take a picture of the car.

Among the familiar names, Oullim Spirra was a pleasant surprise. I had never heard of this brand before. It turns out to be a lesser-known Korean brand for sports cars. The Oullim Spirra has received positive reviews for its performance and design but has struggled to achieve mainstream success.

Call me a hipster, but the Spirra, with its stylish yet slightly retro charm and its scarcity due to no longer being produced, has a unique appeal. I would love to get behind the wheel of one of these bad boys.

Contrary to my expectations, Mercedes-Benz, the top imported car brand in Korea, was absent. BMW (with Mini) tactfully filled the void. The BMW I7 attracted a lot of attention. I tried to get into the back seat, but the line was long and people seemed to be taking 20-minute naps in there. My review based on that is that it must be comfy.

Outside, JEEP offered an off-road track adventure. Unfortunately, rain cut the event short on the day I visited, but at least I got some pictures. It looked like a lot of fun.

Overall, BIMOS 2024 was fun. The benefit of my low expectations was that the show exceeded them and turned out to be a pleasant surprise. For an international motor show, I expected to see a few more international brands, but Korea produces so many impressive cars that the show held up well with the majority being domestic cars. For a shallow car enthusiast like myself, BIMOS 2024 was a great experience, and I’m looking forward to the next one in two years.