
Japan's 2025 Wage Talks Conclude With Highest Gain in 34 Years
Workers at 5,162 companies affiliated with Rengo secured an average wage increase of 5.25% in this year's negotiations, according to the final update of pay deals announced by the trade union federation on Thursday. While the figure came in lower than the preliminary 5.46% reported in March, it still marks the highest growth rate since 1991. Rengo represents approximately 7 million workers, or around 10% of Japan's labor force.

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Hyundai opens UX Studio user experience lab in Seoul
Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) has opened its first 'UX Studio' participatory research center in Seoul, designed to engage customers to 'co-create' future mobility experiences. The South Korean automaker said the new centre 'marks a significant milestone in its ongoing journey of innovation.' HMG claims that UX Studio Seoul is one of the first open research platforms in the global automotive industry where customers can actively participate in the development of mobility user experiences (UX) and apply their insights to new UX concepts. The company said that 'customers can freely explore various future mobility environments, take part in pioneering UX research, and experience firsthand how customer feedback influences vehicle features and their development.' Hyolin Kim, head of HMG's Feature Strategy Group, said in a statement: 'Our vision for the best UX goes beyond convenience to foster a truly inspiring mobility experience. At the heart of this vision is the voice of our customers. 'UX Studio Seoul' is not about delivering a one-way experience – it is a collaborative hub where customer insights are directly integrated into the actual vehicle development process.' HMG said that UX Studio Seoul reflects its commitment to revolutionizing user experiences amidst a paradigm shift driven by electrification and autonomous driving. The studio aims to showcase HMG's ability to deliver 'differentiated value' across all aspects of mobility, including driving performance, infotainment systems, and convenience features. HMG confirmed that visitors can test UX concepts using virtual reality, join research programmes, and explore the company's software-defined vehicle (SDV) architecture in the 'Open Lab.' The company describes the Open Lab as an interactive space divided into three distinct areas: the UX Test Zone, SDV Zone, and UX Archive Zone. 'Each zone is designed to provide visitors with unique opportunities to explore the cutting-edge technologies and research processes that define HMG's approach to mobility UX.' The SDV (Software-defined Vehicle) Zone introduces HMG's latest SDV hardware and software technologies, including its new electrical and electronic (E&E) architecture introduced at the 'Pleos 25' developer conference. This architecture reduces system complexity by consolidating the high-performance vehicle computer (HPVC) and zone controllers, enabling continuous software updates by 'decoupling hardware and software development.' The SDV Testbed allows visitors to interact with the Group's next-generation infotainment system, Pleos Connect, based on Android Automotive OS (AAOS). Pleos Connect enables seamless mobile-to-vehicle integration and incorporates the AI voice assistant Gleo AI, allowing advanced voice control of infotainment features. "Hyundai opens UX Studio user experience lab in Seoul" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
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Crypto Exchange Coinone Wins South Korean Court Battle Over Doubled Bitcoin Withdrawals
Coinone won an appeal to force five of customers to return bitcoin (BTC) they managed to double withdraw from the South Korean crypto exchange over a glitch in 2018. According to local media, the Seoul Western District Court's second civil division said the traders benefited from 'unjust enrichment' because the exchange had already completed the first withdrawal on-chain before its server restored their balances. The mix-up began when Coinone's software flagged slow confirmations from the Bitcoin network as failed transactions, and automatically topped up users' accounts even after the withdrawals were properly processed. The traders then withdrew same coins again. The Bitcoin network experienced significant congestion back around that time as transaction volumes skyrocketed, in the culmination of a years-long scaling debate that had led to the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hard fork a year earlier. At the time, the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network reached a then-record $55, while the memory pool, a sort of 'waiting room for transactions,' grew to 250,000 unconfirmed transactions. A lower court initially blamed Coinone's own servers and ordered the payment of only partial damages. On appeal, judges called the network delay an outside event, said the platform need not shoulder the loss and told the users to repay the funds. Coinone has faced controversy in the past. In a separate trial in 2023, former employees admitted receiving as much as 2 billion won (around $1.46 million) to list tokens.
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Tesla's Q2 sales not nearly as bad as feared, but former leader is losing ground fast to BYD
Tesla's first-half sales fell 13% to 720,803 vehicles. While this was better than expected, Elon Musk's company fell further behind Chinese arch-rival BYD, whose global EV volumes surged 41% to crack the 1 million vehicle mark this year. Bulls argue EVs should no longer be the sole focus going forward now that Musk launched his robotaxi service: 'The autonomous future at Tesla is the laser focus.' Tesla reported some good news Wednesday—its second quarter global EV sales were nowhere near as awful as many feared. That is little consolation, however, as Elon Musk's company fell further behind new industry leader BYD. Tesla sales crashed by nearly 14% during the three months through June to just 384,122 vehicles, only slightly worse than the first quarter's pace of decline and in line with the analyst consensus. Shares in Tesla gained 3.5% on the back of the surprise, since most Tesla bulls that closely follow the stock had expected closer to 370,000 for the quarter. 'That -14% should mark the bottom,' wrote Gene Munster, a partner with Deepwater Asset Management. 'The expiration of the [U.S. federal] tax credit will pull demand forward and give results a measurable boost.' The problem for Tesla is that Chinese carmaker BYD left Elon Musk's company in the dust. Only six months into 2025 BYD has already cracked the 1 million EV sales mark, compared with Tesla's first-half total of 720,803 vehicles. According to a regulatory filing BYD posted to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday, June volumes soared to 206,884 fully electric vehicles, helping it reach seven figures already this year. Altogether BYD's EV volumes increased by 41% in the first half, not including its separate range of plug-in hybrids where Tesla does not compete. Thanks in part to a research & development team numbering nearly 100,000—almost as large as Tesla's entire global workforce—BYD has been able to pump out one popular new model after the other, while Tesla still relies predominantly on one vehicle: the Model Y. Facing thiscompetition, Musk has pivoted away from cars where it is becoming increasingly difficult for even Tesla to sell EVs profitably. Instead the CEO has focused on two areas where he believes Tesla can differentiate itself — with artificial intelligence, either in the form of a robotaxi service or a humanoid robot. That has however come at the cost of apparently neglecting his core car business. For now, investors seem willing to give Musk the benefit of the doubt with the stock still trading over 110 times next year's consensus earnings estimate of $2.83 per share—a multiple reserved for only a select few high growth stocks like Palantir. 'The autonomous future at Tesla is the laser focus for Elon Musk and key for investors,' said Wedbush Securities tech analyst Dan Ives, calling the Q2 figures a 'big step forward' despite the sharp drop. Now that he launched his robotaxi service, Musk could soon be under pressure to prove his AI bet is paying off, such as supplying evidence the number of passenger miles booked on his robotaxis is scaling as fast as he has predicted. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data