[Photo News] Korean debut

Alpha Motor Corporation, a US electric vehicle developer, will make its debut at the upcoming Seoul Mobility Show, which runs from March 30 to April 9 at Kintex in Gyeonggi Province, the event organizers said Tuesday. Established in 2020 in California by a group of automotive, IT and financial experts led by Korean-Americans, Alpha Motor will unveil its EV pickup trucks Wolf and Wolf Plus at the event.

March 7, 2023

7 in 10 Hyundai, Kia cars sold in US are SUVs

More than 7 in 10 cars sold by Hyundai Motor Group in the US were sport utility vehicles, according to the South Korean auto giant’s sales data unveiled Monday. In the first two months of this year, Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia sold a combined 162,632 SUVs in the all-important US market, an equivalent of 70.7 percent of its total sales of 230,000 vehicles. Hyundai and its luxury sibling Genesis sold 86,718 SUVs, while Kia sold 5,914 SUVs. It is the first time that the SUV

March 6, 2023

[Photo News] Sending aid for earthquake victims

South Korean shipping company HMM's containers wait for shipment at a Busan port on Friday to deliver relief goods for victims of the Turkey-Syria earthquake. The firm said Monday it has decided to offer its containers free of charge to help relief efforts, with the first batch of 50 containers departing last week. HMM also plans to ship an additional 150 container homes to the quake-hit regions later this month.

March 6, 2023

Samsung SDI, GM to form EV battery alliance

South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI and US auto giant General Motors will build a joint battery manufacturing plant for electric vehicles in the US with an investment worth up to 5 trillion won ($3.8 billion), according to reports Sunday. The battery alliance, which will mark the first collaboration between the two companies, will become official later this week as they are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in Michigan on Wednesday. Citing unnamed industry sources, the reports sa

March 5, 2023

Competition heats up for first Hyundai factory job openings in decade

Tens of thousands of job seekers have flocked to the Hyundai Motor Group website after the carmaker announced it would recruit production line workers for the first time in a decade, the company said Friday. More than 30,000 people visited the carmaker's recruitment page on the first day of applications on Thursday, causing a server slowdown throughout the day, according to the company. On Friday, it took more than 20 minutes to load the webpage when The Korea Herald tried to access it arou

March 3, 2023

S. Korea, China agree to increase flights to pre-pandemic levels

South Korean and Chinese aviation authorities have agreed to gradually increase the number of flights on their bilateral routes to pre-pandemic levels, the South Korean transport ministry said Friday. Seoul and Beijing have the rights to provide 608 flights a week on routes to each other's country, and they used to offer a combined 1,100 weekly flights before the COVID-19 hit the airline industry three years ago, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. "

March 3, 2023

[KH Explains] Would Renault-Nissan alliance affect Renault Korea?

Last month, auto giants Renault and Nissan announced that they were reshaping their decades-old strategic alliance, calling Europe a top priority market in their renewed green push. With an Asia strategy missing in the landmark deal, experts here warn that Renault Korea Motors could be downgraded as a production base for the French carmaker unless sizeable investments are made in developing its own new cars. Decades-old alliance reshaped On Feb. 6, Renault and its Japanese partner Nissan u

March 2, 2023

[Photo News] Off-road experience

Jeep has opened its first dealership with an off-road experience zone in Guri, Gyeonggi Province, Stellantis Korea said Thursday. With the latest opening, Jeep now has 21 dealerships across the country.

March 2, 2023

Britain OKs Korean Air-Asiana Airlines merger

Britain's antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has approved the integration of South Korea's Korean Air with its smaller local rival Asiana Airlines. Britain's Competition of Markets Authority (CMA) said in a statement that undertakings given by Korean Air are "appropriate" to remedy or mitigate a lessening of competition in the market. Korean Air proposed supporting a new Incheon-London route of British airliner Virgin Atlantic Airways, as the CMA had demanded Korean A

March 1, 2023

Hyundai Motor Group chief promotes Busan Expo bid

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun underscored South Korea’s vision to host the 2030 World Expo in Busan to 12 ambassadors from countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific region, asking for their support in the country’s bid. According to Hyundai Motor Group on Wednesday, Chung met the ambassadors at the Korean Embassy in the US on Tuesday. The ambassadors represented Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Burundi, Central African Republic, Togo, Guyana, Barbados, Bahamas, Sa

March 1, 2023

Renault Korea, union pledge win-win partnership

Renault Korea said Tuesday its labor and management have agreed to join forces to push for the company’s Busan factory to become a global production base for the French carmaker. According to the company, Renault Korea CEO Stephan Deblaise and Kim Dong-suk, the labor union leader, signed a joint declaration that underscores a win-win partnership and mutual trust. “Based on renewed labor-management relations, we should fulfill our vision as one team. Without cooperation from the lab

Feb. 28, 2023

Kumho Tire inks sponsorship deal for TCR World Tour

Kumho Tire announced Monday that it signed a title sponsorship deal for the Kumho Touring Car Racing World Tour with WSC Group in Lugano, Switzerland, Thursday. The South Korean tire maker plans to supply tires for all the vehicles competing in the 2023 TCR World Tour, an international touring car championship for TCR cars promoted by WSC Group. The Kumho TCR World Tour will be held at locations in Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia and Macao. In particular, the Bel

Feb. 27, 2023

[Test Drive] RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid, Toyota’s latest offering for EV hesitators

After years of supply chain disruptions and diplomatic tensions, Japanese auto giant Toyota is seeking a turnaround in Korea with its first offering to win back customers -- the new RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid, which combines the best qualities of gas and electric cars. The plug-in hybrid model is the latest addition to the carmaker’s popular RAV4 crossover utility vehicle lineup. In Korea, the self-charging RAV4 Hybrid was Toyota’s top-selling hybrid car last year, making up 43 percent of h

Feb. 26, 2023

Hyundai, Kia cars win top safety rankings in US

Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday that four of its cars -- Palisade, Sonata, Genesis G90 and Kia’s Telluride -- have won awards in a crash test held by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, one of the industry's top safety honors. The Hyundai Palisade, Kia Telluride and Genesis G90 were named as Top Safety Pick+, the highest ranking, while Hyundai Sonata won the second-highest Top Safety Pick. The Telluride, in particular, received the highest rankings in every test category,

Feb. 26, 2023

Kia to begin EV9 production in 1st half of this year

Kia, South Korea’s second-largest automaker under Hyundai Motor Group, will begin production of EV9 -- a large electric sport utility vehicle -- in the first half of this year, according to officials Friday. The Korean Metal Workers’ Union said Kia’s labor union and management finally came to an agreement on the production plan earlier this week after the two sides began negotiations to discuss the automaker’s EV manufacturing strategy and future employment security in Ap

Feb. 24, 2023

[Photo News] Car of the Year

Hyundai Motor Group's all-new Grandeur has won the 2023 Car of the Year award, the Korea Automobile Journalists Association announced Wednesday. According to the KAJA, the all-new Grandeur earned an overall score of 80.75 out of 100, closely beating out BMW's 7 series, which received an 80.43. The association reviewed 18 vehicles from 13 brands for the award. (Hyundai Motor Group)

Feb. 22, 2023

Asiana Airlines to launch more international flights

Asiana Airlines said Wednesday it is preparing to expand its international routes by increasing the number of flights to 40 a week on 12 different routes starting next month. This comes along with a recent upsurge in international travel after the steady lifting of travel restrictions as the pandemic has slowed down. “Starting with this initial flight expansion, we will continue our efforts to gradually reopen international travel this year,” an official commented. Asiana plans to fi

Feb. 22, 2023

LG Energy Solution teams up with Ford on Turkey battery project

LG Energy Solution said Wednesday it has forged a new partnership with Ford and KOC Holding, a Turkish real estate developer, to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Turkey, two weeks after similar talks fell apart between its crosstown rival SK On and the US auto giant. Under a nonbinding memorandum of understanding, the three companies agreed to build an EV battery plant in the Baskent region near the Turkish capital of Ankara. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 25 gi

Feb. 22, 2023

[Graphic News] South Korea’s gas, coal imports hit record high in 2022: data

South Korea’s imports of gas and coal hit an all-time high last year on surging global energy prices, data showed. The value of gas imports came to $56.7 billion last year, the highest since 1956 when the government began compiling the related data, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The previous record of $36.6 billion was set in 2014. The import value of coal also reached an all-time high of $28.1 billion, surpassing the previous record of $18.3 billion logged in 20

Feb. 22, 2023

Toyota aims to win back Korean customers

Toyota will release eight new electric vehicles in South Korea to ramp up its automation lineup to meet the diversifying needs of local customers this year, Toyota Motor Korea said Tuesday as it announced the launch of its RAV4 plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. According to the Japanese automaker, the Korean office has set 2023 as a turning point to implement the global headquarters’ “multipathway” strategy that aims to offer a varied selection of automated vehicles in different

Feb. 21, 2023