Hankook Tire to supply high functioning tires for Audi RS5

Hankook Tire, the nation’s largest tiremaker, will supply its ultra-high-functioning tire Ventus S1 evo2 for Audi’s new RS5 Coupe model, the company said Thursday. The product will be supplied as original equipment tire to German luxury carmaker, it added.It is the second high-spec Audi model to equip Hankook Tire’s Ventus S1 evo2. Hankook Tire has already been supplying the product for the Audi TT. (Yonhap)Winning recognition from the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, a touring car racing ser

Sept. 7, 2017

Ford, Mitsubishi, BMW to recall 1,278 vehicles

Ford Motor Company, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and BMW will recall faulty parts in more than 1,000 vehicles sold in South Korea, the transport ministry said Thursday.Ford will recall 626 Lincoln MKZs and eight Fusion sedans manufactured in 2013 to replace faulty door latches. Mitsubishi issued a recall for 606 Outlander SUVs made between 2008 and 2012 due to a potential problem with the front windscreen wiper system. The carmaker has identified a weakness with the electric wiper motor, which

Sept. 7, 2017

LG Group rules out producing its own electric cars

LG Group, which has been aggressively expanding its presence in the vehicle components sector, made clear it is not moving to build electric vehicles (EVs), industry sources said Thursday."We are not even considering manufacturing a complete vehicle," an LG Group official stressed.Industry watchers have been speculating that LG Group may jump into car production as its affiliates recently expanded investment in the vehicle components businesses. (Korea Herald DB)Last month, LG Electronics Inc. s

Sept. 7, 2017

GM Korea steps up moves to quell rumors of withdrawal from Korea

Clay models of GM vehicles and the interior made using 3-D augmented reality technology at the Design Center in Bupyeong, Gyeonggi Province (GM Korea)BUPYEONG, Incheon -- Stepping up efforts to quell unrelenting rumors of its potential pullout from South Korea, GM Korea on Wednesday arranged a press tour of its design center, with the newly appointed CEO emphasizing the importance of the market here.“Firstly, I have heard the many rumors of media regarding our operation in GM Korea. I can assure

Sept. 6, 2017

Hyundai signs on with Israeli tech institute on self-driving, AI

Hyundai Motor has signed a memorandum of understanding with Technion, an Israeli institute of technology, to jointly develop artificial intelligence and technologies for autonomous driving, the company said Thursday.The joint project also includes a plan to support budding enterprises in Israel and use their ideas to devise new market platform aimed at realizing innovative mobility. South Korea’s Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology also joins the project, the company said. Officia

Sept. 6, 2017

Imported car sales jump 10% in August on German, Japanese models

Sales of imported vehicles in South Korea jumped 10 percent last month compared to a year earlier on robust demand for German and Japanese vehicles, industry data showed Wednesday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles rose to 17,547 in August from 15,932 a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association said in a statement. The three best-selling models were the BMW 520d, Lexus ES300h and Mercedes-Benz E 220d 4MATIC sedans, the statement said.  BMW`s 10 milli

Sept. 6, 2017

Mercedes-Benz unveils new S-Class models in Korea

Mercedes-Benz Korea released the New S-Class sedans in Seoul on Monday, starting with diesel-powered models.For two months, the German luxury carmaker‘s local sales unit will be selling eight models, including the Mercedes-AMG S 63 4Matic and Mercedes-Maybach, the company said. S-Class Coupe and S-Class Cabriolet models will be introduced next year, it added.  The New Mercedes-Benz S-Class (left) and New Mercedes-Maybach S-Class (right) (Mercedes-Benz Korea)“Different engines will come not all t

Sept. 5, 2017

Hyundai turns to Europe to pick up lagging business

Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun delivers a presentation at the world premiere of the Kona, Hyundai Motor’s first small SUV, at the company’s studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in July. (Hyundai Motor Group)Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun started a four-day business trip in Europe, seeking to expand the company’s presence there through its to-be-launched fuel cell electric vehicles, compact SUVs and luxury cars, the company said Tuesday.The first destination of C

Sept. 5, 2017

Hyundai unveils localized truck in Moscow

South Korea's leading automaker Hyundai Motors Co. said Tuesday it has unveiled a light truck designed for the local market at a Russian commercial car exhibition.Hyundai will promote the HD36L, a 2.5-liter diesel-powered light truck, at the 2017 Comtrans Commercial Vehicles Auto Show set to run this week in Moscow. The truck is based on the Mighty truck, which is available in South Korea, the company said in a statement.  This photo provided by Hyundai Motor shows its HD36L light truck in Mosco

Sept. 5, 2017

Hyundai plant operations in China suspended due to payment problems

A Hyundai Motor Co.'s plant in China was forced to suspend operations Tuesday as a German company refused to supply auto components due to payment problems, the South Korean carmaker said.Hyundai's plant in Cangzhou, Hebei District, was brought to a halt as the supplier has stopped delivering air intake components due to delayed payments, a company spokesman said over the phone."We are in talks with the German partner so work can resume at the No. 4 plant (in China)," he said without elaborating

Sept. 5, 2017

GM Korea workers to stage partial strike

Workers at GM Korea Co. will stage a partial strike Tuesday to demand higher wages as the company has not offered any satisfactory terms in this year's wage talks, the union said.GM Korea union said its day-shift workers in the company's plant in Bupyeong, about 30 kilometers west of Seoul, will carry out a four-hour strike and night-shift workers will also walkout for four hours. "The planned strikes are a normal part of wage negotiations," union spokesman Dang Sung-geun said by phone.  (Yonhap

Sept. 5, 2017

Korean automakers’ sales retreat in Chile

South Korean carmakers posted weaker sales in the Chilean car market in the first half of this year, according to data compiled by a local automotive association.Hyundai Motor, which had topped the market with sales of 31,398 units in 2016, gave away the top spot to Chevrolet during the January-July period this year, according to the National Automotive Association of Chile on Monday.During the seven-month period, Hyundai Motor held 9.1 percent market share with sales of 17,276 small and midsize

Sept. 4, 2017

Genesis G70 to debut in US early next year

Teaser image of Genesis G70 (Hyundai Motor Group)[THE INVESTOR] Hyundai Motor gave media a peek at its luxury marque Genesis’ all-new sports sedan G70, with plans to release the car in the US early next year. “We are planning to launch Genesis G70 in the North American market sometime early next year,” said Hwang Chung-yul, senior vice president at the Genesis Project Management Center, at a media preview held in Seoul on Sept. 1. “We will gradually roll out the car in other regions.” Prior to G

Sept. 3, 2017

[News Analysis] What’s causing the decline of Korea’s auto industry?

Park Han-woo, president of Kia Motors, the sister company of South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor, called the current situation faced by the auto industry here “worse than a crisis.”Speaking at a forum held by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association on Aug. 21, Park said, “The situation seems to be more difficult than when we were suffering from the Asian financial crisis.” He was referring to the late 1990s when the East Asian miracle became a financial nightmare. Major concerns

Sept. 3, 2017

Five Korean carmakers' sales fall 1.6% on weak overseas demand

South Korea's five carmakers said Friday their combined sales fell 1.6 percent on-year last month due mainly to weak demand from overseas markets. The five automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a total of 631,870 vehicles in August, down from 642,170 units a year earlier, according to the companies' sales data. Their domestic sales fell 12 percent to 120,847 cars last month from the previous year's 107,677 un

Sept. 1, 2017

Kia's Aug. sales rise 1% on solid domestic sales gain

Kia Motors Corp. said Friday its vehicle sales rose 1 percent in August from a year earlier as higher domestic demand offset weak numbers in China.The country's second-biggest carmaker by sales sold 222,740 vehicles in August, up slightly from 220,529 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sharp sales declines in China continued to affect monthly results, the company said in a statement, citing political tensions between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the Terminal High

Sept. 1, 2017

Hyundai Motor Aug. sales fall 6% on weak overseas demand

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday its sales fell 6 percent in August from a year earlier on weak overseas demand, particularly in the Chinese market. The country's biggest carmaker by sales sold 336,625 vehicles in August, down from 358,252 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Declining demand from China triggered by the diplomatic row between Seoul and Beijing over the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system continued to affect monthly sales figures, the carma

Sept. 1, 2017

Renault Samsung Aug. sales surge 28% on exports

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., said Friday its August sales jumped 28 percent from a year earlier on increased exports. Renault Samsung sold 19,469 vehicles in August, up from 15,240 units the previous year, helped by strong overseas demand for its QM6 SUV, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 9.2 percent on-year to 7,001 cars from 7,713 units. But exports surged 66 percent to 12,468 from 7,527 during the same period, the stat

Sept. 1, 2017

GM Korea Aug. sales rise 15% on robust exports

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Friday its August sales rose 15 percent from the previous year, helped by robust exports. GM Korea, which makes cars under the Chevrolet badge, sold 41,311 vehicles in August, up from 35,971 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.  (Yonhap)Monthly domestic sales fell 22 percent to 10,004 autos last month from 12,773 the previous year. But exports surged 35 percent to 31,307 from 23,198 over the same period, it said. I

Sept. 1, 2017

SsangYong Motor‘s Aug. sales fall 3.7% on weak exports

SsangYong Motor Co. said Friday its August sales fell 3.7 percent from a year earlier on sluggish exports. The South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. sold 11,725 vehicles in August, down from 12,178 units a year earlier, the carmaker said in a statement. Domestic sales rose 7.5 percent to 8,255 units last month from 7,676 units a year earlier. But exports plunged 23 percent to 3,470 cars from 4,502, the statement said.  (Yonhap)In the January-August period, the maker of th

Sept. 1, 2017