Hyundai, Kia suffer 7.3% drop in US vehicle sales in 2020

Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. said Wednesday their US vehicle sales fell 7.3 percent in 2020 from a year earlier amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyundai and Kia, South Korea's two biggest carmakers, sold a combined 1,208,374 vehicles in the world's most important automobile market last year, down from 1,304,109 units the previous year, the companies said in separate statements. Hyundai's US sales fell 9.7 percent to 622,269 units last year from 688,771 a year ago, while

Jan. 6, 2021

Korean Air to change articles of association for Asiana takeover

Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's biggest carrier, said Tuesday it will change its articles of association to help finance its planned acquisition of smaller rival Asiana Airlines Inc. Korean Air will hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on Wednesday to amend its articles of association ahead of its 2.5 trillion-won ($2.3 billion) rights issue plan for March to sell more stocks aimed at funding the acquisition, a company spokeswoman said over the phone. The national flag carrier plans

Jan. 5, 2021

Carmakers' Dec. sales dip 5% amid pandemic

South Korean carmakers' sales fell 5 percent last month from a year earlier as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on demand, industry data showed Monday. The five carmakers in South Korea -- Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Samsung Motors and SsangYong Motor -- sold a combined 658,550 vehicles in December, down from 694,988 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales fell 8 percent to 133,061 units in December from 144,839 a year ago, while ov

Jan. 4, 2021

Asiana Airlines appoints new CEO in executive reshuffle

Asiana Airlines named Jung Sung-kwon as the new CEO in a major executive reshuffle on Thursday. Jung, who previously served as the head of the airline’s China operations, will replace current CEO Han Chang-soo to lead the country‘s second-largest carrier. Born in 1963, Jung joined Asiana in 1988 and had taken on multiple roles including finance and human resources. In the shakeup, Ahn Byung-suk, Asiana Airline‘s management director, has been tapped to head Air Busan, its s

Dec. 31, 2020

Seoul extends reduction of airport usage fees for virus-hit airlines

South Korea will extend the reduction of airport usage fees for virus-hit airlines by six months to help them stay afloat amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the transport ministry said Wednesday. The government will allow airlines, duty-free shops and other related companies at airports to pay quite lower airport usage fees until June next year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Incheon International Airport Corp., the operator of the country's main Inc

Dec. 30, 2020

EV defect claims multiply 46 times in 4 years

As environmentally-friendly vehicles grow in popularity, consumer claims of defects in their electric vehicles have multiplied in recent years, latest data shows. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Transportation Safety Authority on Monday, the number of electric vehicles registered in the country is 131,923 as of November, a 12-fold increase from 10,855 at the end of 2016. Complaints of faulty vehicle parts grew even faster during the period. A total o

Dec. 28, 2020

Hyundai, Kia sell 300,000 eco-friendly cars overseas

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the country’s two largest automakers, witnessed their overseas sales of environment-friendly vehicles surpass the 300,000-unit mark for the first time this year, industry data showed Sunday. From January to November, the two affiliates of Hyundai Motor Group sold a combined 306,266 electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell electric vehicles in overseas markets. The figure shows an increase of 26.8 percent from the 238,155 environment-friendly vehicl

Dec. 27, 2020

Han Sung Motor celebrates graduation of Dream Gream students

For Han Sung Motor, Korea‘s official Mercedes-Benz dealer, year-end celebrations aren’t complete without a graduation ceremony for recipients of its art scholarship program. This year, the event honored four students who completed the Dream Gream program. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event was held Friday virtually for the first time since the firm launched the program in 2012 Only a small number of people gathered at a cafe in Seoul on Friday, while gradu

Dec. 23, 2020

[Behind the Wheel] Genesis G70 lives up to expectations

Expectations were high for Genesis’ second compact luxury sports utility GV70. When the car was unveiled online in early December, the website temporarily went down as consumers flocked to check out the mid-sized successor to the brand’s first SUV, GV80, launched here in January to rave reviews and strong sales. It turned out Hyundai Motor, the Korean carmaker behind the Genesis brand, has done quite well in meeting those expectations. The GV70 offers a fine driving experience an

Dec. 23, 2020

SsangYong Motor files for court receivership

Cash-strapped SsangYong Motor on Monday filed for court receivership, after failing to pay back about 165 billion won ($149.5 million) worth of debts to its creditor banks. In a statement, the automaker said its executive board has made the decision to apply for corporate rehabilitation and related documents were submitted to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court in the afternoon. “We are truly sorry to worry all interested parties, financial institutes and employees at this time when the world

Dec. 21, 2020

T'way Air to lease three Airbus A330-300 jets

T’way Air has signed a letter of intent to lease three Airbus A330-300 jets late next year to introduce new medium and long-haul flights, the South Korean low-cost carrier said Monday. The move comes as part of the budget airline’s efforts to prepare for a rebound in air travel demand after the pandemic that has dealt a severe blow to the aviation industry is over. The budget airline currently operates 27 B737-800 chartered aircraft on routes to Vietnam, China, Japan and Taiwan. Bu

Dec. 21, 2020

T'way Air to adopt 3 A330-300 jets next year

T'way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Monday it will adopt three A330-300s next year in preemptive efforts to meet the post-coronavirus travel demand. T'way Air has recently signed a letter of intent with European aircraft maker Airbus to lease the A330-300 passenger jets and plans to gradually inject them on the long-haul routes to Australia, Croatia, Singapore and Malaysia, the company said in a statement. T'way Air suspended most of its international routes in March as countries

Dec. 21, 2020

Hyundai Motor Group unveils AI-based Korean-English translation app

Hyundai Motor Group said Friday it has developed a Korean-English translation app to support smooth communication among its employees in local and overseas offices. Dubbed the H-Translator, the app is based on artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm and is specialized in the automobile industry, the South Korean automaker said. Hyundai explained that it has come to develop the translator to support timely communication and strengthen work efficiency, as the company has been actively recrui

Dec. 18, 2020

Korean Air CEO receives honor from French government for building ties

Korean Air CEO Cho Won-tae has been awarded with a gold medal of honor medal by the French government for his contributions to enhancing relations between Korea and France. During a ceremony in Seoul on Thursday, Franck Rieste, the visiting minister-delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness of France, bestowed the honor on the Korean businessman for continuing direct flights between the two countries despite a sharp decrease in passengers. The medal is given to those who have cont

Dec. 18, 2020

Hyundai Motor seeks to up stake in Turkey plant

Hyundai Motor Co. said Friday it seeks to raise its stake in its plant in Turkey by acquiring a 27 percent stake held by Kibar Holding in preparation for the post-coronavirus recovery. Early this month, Hyundai Motor submitted documents to the Turkish authorities to buy most of Kibar's stake in its local factory, a company spokesman said over the phone. The South Korean carmaker currently holds a 70 percent stake in the 230,000-unit-a-year plant in the northwestern city of Izmit, and Kibar ow

Dec. 18, 2020

Air Busan cabin crew to wear goggles on domestic flights

Low-cost carrier Air Busan will make goggles mandatory for all cabin crew from Thursday, including those on domestic flights, as South Korea struggles to rein in coronavirus outbreaks. Before, only those on international flights had to wear safety glasses. The company said the measure would “relieve the worries of passengers.” Korea announced over 1,000 new cases Thursday, with over 400 of those cases in Seoul. The new move will also see ground staff wear goggles and masks and be

Dec. 17, 2020

Hyundai JV, Lyft to launch driverless US robotaxi services in 2023

Motional, the Hyundai Motor-Aptiv joint venture, said Thursday it has partnered with US ride-sharing firm Lyft Inc. to launch driverless robotaxi services in major US cities in 2023. Motional said it plans to deploy fully autonomous vehicles, which are based on the Korean automaker Hyundai Motor's platform, in Lyft's ride-sharing network in the United States. Lyft has the second-biggest ride-sharing network in the world's most important automobile market after Uber Technologies Inc. The busin

Dec. 17, 2020

Korean Air, labor union agree to wage freeze, furlough amid pandemic

Korean Air Lines Co. and its labor union have agreed to freeze wages and put 70 percent of employees on furlough in the first half of 2021 to ride out the fallout of COVID-19, officials said Wednesday. About 70 percent of 12,600 employees at South Korea's largest air carrier have been taking unpaid leave since April as part of cost-cutting efforts to overcome the impact of the pandemic. In this year's negotiations, the management and the labor union agreed to freeze wages and maintain the furl

Dec. 16, 2020

Hyundai tops global hydrogen auto sales through Sept.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. topped the global hydrogen vehicle sales in the first nine months of the year on rising demand for the Nexo model, data showed Monday. In the first nine months, Hyundai Motor sold a total of 4,917 hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles, accounting for 74 percent of the global hydrogen car market, according to data from local market research firm SNE Research. Toyota Motors Corp. ranked second with a share of 11.5 percent, or 767 vehicles, while Honda Motor Co. ran

Dec. 14, 2020

Asiana decides on capital reduction to improve financial status

Asiana Airlines Inc. said Monday it will cut its capital base to improve its financial status amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Shareholders approved a 3:1 capital reduction plan as the airline's capital erosion rate reached 56.3 percent at the end of June, a company spokesman said. "The company made the decision to avoid being designated as issues for administration or having its credit rating downgraded," he said over the phone. After the reduction, the number of Asiana's overall stocks

Dec. 14, 2020