Demand for performance cars rises in Korea

Sales of high-performance vehicles are on the rise in South Korea amid growing demand by consumers who want more from the cars they drive every day, industry sources said Friday. The number of performance cars sold here fell far behind sales of mass-market models but it has steadily increased in the Korean market.  In this updated captured image from Yonhap News TV, Hyundai`s i30N high-performance car runs the 2017 24 Hours Nurburgring, an endurance race held in Germany last weekend. (Yonhap)Mer

June 2, 2017

Five S. Korea vehicles awarded top safety marks in US crash test

Five car models made by South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co. and its sister company Kia Motors Corp. have been named the safest cars in a US crash test, the companies said.  In a test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to determine the safety of vehicles in crashes, Hyundai's Santa Fe sport-utility vehicle and independent brand Genesis G80 and G90 sedans, as well as Kia's Optima (or K5) and Cadenza (or K7) sedans earned the highest rating - the 2017 Top Safety Pick+.  Kia's Optim

June 2, 2017

Korea's five carmakers' sales fall 13% on weak demand

South Korea's five carmakers said Thursday their combined sales fell 13 percent last month from a year earlier on weak overseas vehicle demand. The five automakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a total of 663,048 vehicles in May, down from 761,233 units a year earlier, according to data released by the companies.  (Yonhap)Their overseas sales plunged 14 percent to 527,605 units last month from the previous year'

June 1, 2017

Hyundai's May sales sink 14% on weak overseas demand

Hyundai Motor Co. said Thursday its sales fell 14 percent last month from a year earlier due to weaker overseas demand. The country's biggest carmaker by sales sold a total of 367,969 vehicles in May, down from 429,084 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.  (Yonhap)Domestic sales dipped 0.4 percent year-over-year to 60,607 vehicles in May from 60,827 units a year earlier. Overseas sales plunged 17 percent to 307,362 from 368,257 during the same period, it said. As the low-growth

June 1, 2017

Renault Samsung May sales fall 15% on lower demand

Renault Samsung Motors Corp., the South Korean unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., said Thursday its May sales fell 15 percent last month from a year earlier on weak consumer demand. Renault Samsung sold a total of 20,517 vehicles in May, down from 24,113 units a year earlier, due to slowing demand for its SM3 compact and SM6 flagship sedan, the company said in a statement.  (Yonhap)Domestic sales declined 16 percent year-over-year to 9,222 units from 8,702 units a year earlier. Exports also s

June 1, 2017

Kia's May sales dip 9.8% on lower demand

Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday its vehicle sales fell 9.8 percent last month from a year earlier on lower demand at home and overseas. The country's second-biggest carmaker by sales sold a total of 219,128 vehicles in May, down from 242,847 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement.  (Yonhap)"Compared to the same period of last year, the lack of tax benefits and new models drove down the sales results in May," the company said in a statement. Domestic sales fell 8.6 percent on-year t

June 1, 2017

Hyundai Steel to raise steel plate price

Hyundai Steel has reached an agreement with Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, the country’s top two automotive companies, to raise the price of steel plates, which is widely expected to increase the steelmaker’s annual sales, an industry report said Thursday. The price of automotive steel sheets supplied by the country’s No. 2 steelmaker to the two car companies will be hiked 60,000 won ($53.40) per ton, according to local news and analyst reports. (Yonhap)A spokesperson of Hyundai Steel said it was

June 1, 2017

European automakers to recall 2,000 units

South Korea’s Transport Ministry on Thursday ordered Mercedes-Benz Korea, Porsche Korea, BMW Korea and Ducati to recall a combined total of 2,014 units across 15 models.The recall ordered for Mercedes-Benz Korea, the local importer and distributor of the German luxury, affects 1,071 cars across 11 models, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. (Yonhap)The ministry said it found malfunctioning airbags installed in a total of 1,069 Mercedes-Benz vehicles across nine model

June 1, 2017

SsangYong's May sales dip 7% on lower demand

SsangYong Motor Co. said Thursday its May sales fell 7 percent last month from a year earlier due to slowing overseas demand. The South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. sold a total of 12,349 vehicles in May, down from 13,282 units a year earlier, SsangYong Motor said in a statement.  (Yonhap)Domestic sales rose 11 percent to 10,238 units last month from 9,191 units a year earlier. But exports plunged 48 percent to 2,111 autos from 4,091 during the same period, the stateme

June 1, 2017

GM Korea May sales down 17% on weak local demand

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday its May sales fell 17 percent from a year earlier due to weak domestic demand. GM Korea sold 43,085 vehicles in May, down from 51,907 units tallied a year earlier, the company said in a statement.  (Yonhap)Exports fell 10 percent to 31,231 from 34,728. Domestic sales also plunged 31 percent to 11,854 units from 17,179 during the same period, it said. The sales downturn was affected by the sharp decline in local demand for t

June 1, 2017

Korea’s automobile production falling at fastest pace

The number of cars manufactured in South Korea fell at the fastest pace among the top 10 carmaking nations in the first quarter, data showed Wednesday. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the country produced close to 1.05 million vehicles in the first three months of this year, a 2.8 percent decrease from a year ago. The percentage of production decline was the lowest among the world’s 10 car manufacturing countries. Of the top 10, only three countries saw a decline in

May 31, 2017

Renault mulls launching Zoe electric car in Korea in 2019

French carmaker Renault S.A. is considering launching the Zoe electric vehicle in South Korea in 2019 on improving charging infrastructure and government subsidies, the company's chief executive said Wednesday."We are considering introducing the next-generation Zoe electric car in the South Korean market in 2019, but we need to closely watch the market situations (for the launch of the Zoe electric car)," Renault Samsung Motors Corp. CEO Park Dong-hoon told Yonhap News Agency. Renault Samsung's

May 31, 2017

Hyundai to unveil new subcompact SUV next month

Hyundai Motor Co. said Tuesday it will unveil its brand new subcompact sport utility vehicle locally on June 13 as it released a teaser image highlighting the car's low silhouette and wide stance.South Korea's largest carmaker by sales is set to make its foray into North American and European markets this summer with the Kona SUV. Hyundai said the B-segment SUV market, which its new vehicle falls into, has been attracting growing number of customers globally. Teaser image of Hyundai Motor Co.'s

May 30, 2017

BMW opens largest distribution center in Korea

BMW Group Korea, the local unit of the German luxury carmaker, has unveiled the second-largest regional distribution center worldwide here, the company said Tuesday.A total of 130 billion won ($115.6 million) was invested in the new regional distribution center, or RDC, which covers 57,103 square meters of land, the company said. Wolfgang Baumann (sixth from left), vice president of Parts Logistics Management, and Kim Hyo-joon (seventh from left), CEO of BMW Group Korea, attend a ceremony for th

May 30, 2017

Imports of commercial vehicles soar 19% this year

South Korean imports of commercial vehicles jumped more than 19 percent on-year in the first four months of the year despite an overall tumble in inbound auto shipments, data showed Tuesday.Imports of trucks, buses and special vehicles came to 3,284 units in the January-April period, up 19.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. (Yonhap)Inbound shipments of trucks spiked 24.8 percent on-year to 2,515 units during the

May 30, 2017

Hyundai i30N hot hatches complete race in Nurburgring

Hyundai Motor Co.s' i30N hot hatches completed a 24-hour endurance race in Germany last weekend, performing better than last year, the company said Monday. Hyundai sent two i30N hatchback models to the 2017 24 Hours Nurburgring to test components that will eventually make it into production cars. They completed the 25-kilometer-long "Green Hell" circuit in Nurburgring, with one of them ranking 50th this year.  In this photo taken during a 24-hour endurance race in Nurburgring, Hyundai's i30N hat

May 29, 2017

Hyundai helps contractors hire talented employees for mutual growth

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. said Monday they will continue to help their contractors hire talented employees to ensure mutual growth. In the past five years, Hyundai and Kia have arranged job fairs to help their subcontractors hire a total of 80,000 workers, an average of 16,000 a year. They have also operated an online recruiting program for subcontractors, Hyundai said in a statement. In this photo taken on May 29, 2017, jobseekers wait their turn for interviews with subcontractors

May 29, 2017

Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq, No.1 registered EV here

Riding on the boom of eco-friendly vehicles, Hyundai Motor’s electric car Ioniq was the most registered EV in South Korea as of last April, industry data showed Monday.The total number of EVs registered here reached 13,812 units across 13 models as of last April, out of which the Ioniq EV stood for 40.4 percent, totaling 5,581 units, according to data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. Hyundai Motor’s Ioniq Electric trim “I.” (Hyundai Motor Group)South Korea’s EV market lags be

May 29, 2017

Hyundai, Kia car owners experience circuit driving

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, South Korea’s top two automotive companies, held an event for customers to drive their cars around a circuit over the weekend, the companies said Sunday.Some 140 owners of the two automakers’ vehicles participated in the Korea Speed Festival Track Day at the Inje Speedium Circuit located in Gangwon Province, Hyundai Motor Group, said. Owners of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors vehicles took their rides out for a spin around the Inje Speedium Circuit over the weekend. Hy

May 28, 2017

[Photo News] Mercedes-Benz Korea hosts charity run

BENZ CHARITY RUN -- Dimitris Psillakis (left), CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea, exchanges high fives with the participants of Give ‘N Race, the first charity marathon hosted by Mercedes-Benz Korea, through which the automaker raised donations worth 200 million won ($179,000) at the Banpo Riverside Park, Seoul, Sunday. (Mercedes-Benz Korea)

May 28, 2017