5 local airports to resume operating 22 international routes in June

Starting next month, South Korea and Japan will resume flight services between Seoul’s Gimpo and Tokyo’s Haneda airports. Korea Airports Corp. said during its regular briefing Tuesday that it is currently discussing the exact date and immigration procedures with the Japanese government before reopening flights between Gimpo and Haneda. Once resumed, there will be 16 flights provided every week by Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways. The air route ha

May 25, 2022

Kumho Tire diversifies marketing strategy

South Korean tiremaker Kumho Tire said Monday that it has incorporated new and differentiated marketing strategies to accelerate business normalization. The tiremaker has launched a new commercial in April under the slogan, “There is no road you cannot go,” to express its belief that there is no road in the world that Kumho Tire can‘t go, said company officials. The commercial was uploaded to the tiremaker’s YouTube channel. Kumho Tire currently operates the largest Yo

May 25, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group to spend W63tr by 2025 in Korea

Hyundai Motor Group unveiled Tuesday another set of mega investment plans, this time focusing on the local market. Introducing a 63 trillion won ($52.6 billion) plan, the automaker said it would work with its subsidiaries Kia and Hyundai Mobis to turn Korea into a hub of its future mobility business. The investment will be implemented over the next three years.  According to the automaker, which controls the country’s top two automotive brands -- Hyundai Motor and Kia -- as well as

May 24, 2022

Kakao, SK Square hit brake on chauffeur services

For the next three years, South Korean tech giant Kakao and SK Square, the ICT arm of conglomerate SK Group, will be banned from expanding their designated driver service business to make room for small and midsized enterprises entering the market, the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership said Tuesday. Other large corporations seeking to start chauffeur services are prohibited from entering the industry worth 3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) in the cited period as well. Although the decisi

May 24, 2022

[Test Drive] Porsche Taycan GTS is racing car, but stable

The Porsche World Roadshow, featuring diverse driving programs such as circuit driving, slalom course, and launch braking offered by the German carmaker, resumed in South Korea on May 19 after skipping a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Porsche Korea had around 28 models including the Taycan GTS, a model yet to be launched in South Korea, lined up for test drives at Everland Speedway in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The Taycan GTS was definitely the eye-catcher of the event, as not only it is t

May 23, 2022

At Biden meeting, Hyundai Motor Group unveils extra $5b investment

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor Group announced the second round of its investment plan Sunday, adding another $5 billion to collaborate with US firms, only a day after the company unveiled a $5.54 billion plan to build an electric vehicle-only factory in Georgia. “Hyundai Motor Group plans to invest an additional $5 billion through 2025 which will strengthen our collaboration with American enterprises in diverse technologies such as robotics, urban air mobility, autonomous driving a

May 22, 2022

Engineering veteran Roberto Rempel named new CEO of GM Korea

General Motors on Friday named Roberto Rampel, current president of GM Technical Center Korea, as president and CEO of GM Korea. Rempel, an engineering specialist, will start his term on June 1 when his predecessor Kaher Kazem leaves for his new role as executive vice president of SAIC-GM in China. GM expressed high hopes for the new CEO in winning more customers in both domestic and exports markets, and improving the overall competitiveness of GM’s Korean operations. “The GM K

May 20, 2022

[Test Drive] Toyota’s manual sports car GR86 returns with enhanced engine

INJE, Gangwon Province - Toyota’s iconic motorsports car Gazoo Racing 86 is back, 10 years after its second-generation model was launched in South Korea. And while other models are sold on green credentials, the carmaker has made a play for petrolheads with the third generation of the car, increasing the size of the engine by 20 percent to 2.4 liters, and offering a maximum torque of 25.5 kilogram-meters. Design-wise, the GR86 is unremarkable, looking like a typical sports car that can b

May 19, 2022

Hyundai Motor Group unveils W21tr plan to quadruple EV production in Korea

Amid looming reports that Hyundai Motor is set to announce a $7 billion investment in US, the South Korean carmaker unveiled a whopping 21 trillion-won ($16 billion) plan on Wednesday to quadruple its domestic electric vehicle production capacity by 2030.  The plan is aimed at digesting about half of its target goal of producing 3.23 million units of EVs globally, the company said. It came two days prior to US President Joe Biden’s official visit to Korea of which the company report

May 18, 2022

Level 4 self-driving IONIQ 5 starts delivering food in California

Hyundai Motor’s IONIQ 5 loaded with Level 4 self-driving technology has started delivering food in California. Motional, a US autonomous vehicle company that Hyundai Motor Group and US mobility startup Aptiv formed, and Uber Eats began operating their pilot program of automated delivery service in Santa Monica, California, on Tuesday. The partnership was announced in December. At Level 4, a vehicle can drive itself under limited conditions and will not operate if all required conditions

May 17, 2022

Amid buyout talks, SsangYong to launch new SUV Torres

South Korean sports utility vehicle maker SsangYong Motor unveiled its new mid-size SUV called Torres on Tuesday, scheduled to be launched next month. The launch of the new vehicle came amid growing financial pressure on the SUV maker, which has been struggling to find a new suitable buyer. The new vehicle was named after the Torres del Paine National Park located in Chile’s Patagonia region, a place often known as “the end of the world.” “We adopted the name Torres bec

May 17, 2022

Criticisms grow as car buyers are pushed to pay more on delayed orders

Consumer criticisms are mounting as the country’s finished carmakers are unable to meet the delivery deadline due to ongoing supply shortages globally, as well as obligating customers to pay more to get the latest edition models.  As carmakers like Hyundai Motor stops manufacturing the older version of vehicle when they release the new edition in the new year, customers having to wait more than a year for delivery of their cars are being pushed to buy more expensive, newer edition v

May 17, 2022

Renault XM3 Inspire comes with better design, more tech

Renault Korea Motors has added a new trim called Inspire to its XM3 SUV, which has been lauded for its distinct, upscale design. Named after the show car unveiled at the 2019 Seoul Motor Show, XM3 Inspire comes in two colors -- cloud pearl and sonic red. The Inspire trim of the compact SUV features ventilated leather seats, heated rear seats, customized ceilings, a shield to minimize wind noise when driving at high speeds and small design touches such as red lines on the air curtain, side fend

May 17, 2022

Audi, Volvo vie for No. 3 importer in Korea

Volvo is close to catching up to German automaker Audi, which kept its title as the third top selling foreign car brand in South Korea, data showed Monday. According to Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association, Volvo Korea sold a total of 1,332 units in April overtaking Audi Korea which sold 1,051 units the same month. Compared to sales in March, Volvo Korea saw a 1.8 percent on-month sales increase in April while Audi Korea’s sales dropped by 9 percent. In April, Volvo

May 16, 2022

Hyundai Motor unveils Korean ‘ondol’-inspired mobility concept

Hyundai Motor Group on Sunday unveiled its latest mobility concept inspired by the Korean traditional floor heating system “ondol” that allows passengers to take rest inside or even sleep with a specially designed multifunctional blanket.  According to the carmaker, its new mobility concept, Mobility Ondol, has no driver’s seat, since it was designed based on the fully autonomous driving system. The seats are arranged to face each other, putting the communication of the

May 15, 2022

Court picks KG consortium as preliminary bidder for SsangYong Motor

A Seoul court on Friday selected a local consortium led by chemical-to-steel firm KG Group as the preliminary bidder for SsangYong Motor ahead of the auction beginning later this month to find a new investor for the carmaker. The new auction comes two months after local electric bus maker Edison Motors Co. failed to make a full payment of 304.8 billion won (US$249 million) for the debt-laden SsangYong Motor by the March 25 deadline. SsangYong and its lead manager EY Hanyoung accounting firm ac

May 13, 2022

[Market Eye] What's behind Hyundai Motor's $7b EV plant plan in US?

On news reports that South Korea’s auto giant Hyundai Motor is set to announce a $7 billion investment plan in US, market experts said Friday that the carmaker appears to have done the math: lucrative state incentives, tax benefits, growing demand for electric vehicles and perhaps, proximity of battery supply from its fellow South Korean company SK Innovation. The world’s fifth-largest carmaker will unveil the plan to build an EV plant during US president Joe Biden’s state vis

May 13, 2022

2022 Hyundai Grandeur makes debut

Hyundai Motor on Thursday launched the 2022 Hyundai Grandeur, a facelifted version of its top-selling mid-sized sedan car. Coming back with revamped style and safety functions, a 12.3-inch LCD cluster and a touch-type controller have been adopted for all four trims – Premium, Le Blanc, Exclusive and Calligraphy. The Exclusive trim features advanced safety features like forward collision avoidance assist and smart cruise control, while the highest end Calligraphy is equipped with a head-u

May 12, 2022

Airport express train resumes operation on May 30

The airport express train, which runs nonstop from Seoul Station to Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, will resume operation from May 30 after a hiatus of about two years due to the pandemic. Check-in for Korean airlines and immigration service will also be available at the City Airport Terminal in Seoul Station. “As we are resuming the express train service after two years, we are preparing new services to enhance customers’ convenience and conducting thoroug

May 12, 2022

Geely’s stake buying in Renault Korea seen as official Korean market entry

Chinese automotive manufacturer Geely Auto of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is acquiring a 34.02 percent stake in Renault Korea Motors, as part of a strategic effort to establish a foothold in the local market for expanding its overseas presence, according to experts.  Hangzhou-based Geely Automobile Holdings is China’s largest privately-owned automotive group. With an above-30 percent share in the Korean carmaker, which recently dropped “Samsung” from its name upon termi

May 10, 2022