Nissan Korea to face class-action suit over emission fake

Nissan Korea, the local unit of the Japanese automaker, will soon face a class-action suit over the emissions fraud claim on its Qashqai compact crossovers.Local law firm Barun said Monday it is preparing a class-action suit against Nissan Korea by gathering all the Qashqai owners. Nissan Korea’s compact crossover Qashqai (Nissan Korea)“As of now, we have five people for the suit. The number (of people) is yet small due to the relatively small sales of the Qashqai units, but it can still go up,”

May 17, 2016

Korea shifts strategy on unmanned vehicle development

The Korean government announced plans Tuesday to streamline its underperforming programs in efforts to advance the local unmanned vehicle industry.It will focus first on developing "common technologies" crucial to drones, driverless cars and unmanned vessels, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.The government has invested around 284 billion won ($241 million) in the related sector over the past four years."But it's evaluated to lag behind China and advanced nations in p

May 17, 2016

Kia’s Mexico plant starts operation

Kia Motors, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, said its new Mexico plant started operation Monday. Located in Pesqueria in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, the plant will churn out about 100,000 K3 compact sedans -- known as Forte there -- this year. The carmaker said it plans to increase the plant’s annual production capacity to 300,000 vehicles in the future.  Kia Motors’ new plant in Pesqueria, Mexico (Kia Motors)“The plant in Mexico is not only pivotal to sales here, but also cruc

May 16, 2016

Hyundai hires 2nd Bentley designer for Genesis brand

Hyundai Motor said Monday that it had roped in another former designer from British luxury carmaker Bentley for its new luxury Genesis brand, as part of its drive to move higher up the automotive value chain. “Korean-born and world famous car designer Lee Sang-yup, who headed the exterior design for Bentley, will make a new start at Hyundai’s design center from next month,” a Hyundai Motor Group spokesperson said, adding Lee will play the same role for Genesis cars as a vice president. Lee Sang-

May 16, 2016

Korea says Nissan sold emissions-faked cars

Korea's government said Monday it will order a recall of hundreds of Nissan vehicles sold in Korea after it found that the Japanese carmaker had fabricated emissions results.The Ministry of Environment said the Qashqai model of the Japanese automaker was found to have faked its emissions results by using a so-called defeat device. A total of 814 cars have been sold here from November to last week.The announcement came after the government launched a nationwide probe into 20 models of diesel cars

May 16, 2016

Hyundai to open theme-park style brand center in 2017

Hyundai Motor, the nation’s largest automaker, has revealed the artistic rendering for its third “Hyundai Motorstudio’’ to open next year. “The company will open its largest brand experience center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in early 2017,’’ a company spokesperson said.  An artistic rendering of the 3rd Hyundai Motorstudio to be open in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in 2017 (Hyundai Motor)“In an effort to raise brand value, Hyundai has built its own brand studios at home and abroad under the lea

May 15, 2016

Is imported car market losing steam?

Alarm bells are ringing in the imported foreign car market that has enjoyed double-digit on-year growth over the past six years, as sales have declined by 4 percent in January-April from the same period last year.Industry watchers said the downward trend has resulted from weaker sales of the three German car brands which dominate the market, growing distrust of inconsistent vehicle pricing and a stricter law on taxation of company vehicles. Among them, the slowdown of diesel-powered German car s

May 15, 2016

R&D chiefs of automakers share insight on future cars in Busan

The top research and development executives from Hyundai Motor Group and Mercedes-Benz will share their views and insights on future cars, the current hot topic in the global auto industry, at a gala dinner to be held at the BEXCO in Busan on June 1.The presentations will be made a day before the 2016 Busan International Motor show to be held from June 2 to 10. The co-organizers include the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association an

May 15, 2016

Audi VW accused of rigging fuel efficiency

The Seoul prosecutors’ office said on Friday it searched Audi Volkswagen Korea’s headquarters office and two of its PR agencies this week on allegations that the automaker cheated on its fuel-efficiency test results. “We have grounds to believe the test results submitted to the Korean government were rigged,” said the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, referring to documents sent to the related ministries in 2013 and 2014.  (Yonhap)The prosecution said it recently discovered a discrepan

May 13, 2016

Hyundai Motor unveils wearable robot technologies

The nation’s largest automotive company Hyundai Motor Group offered a peep into its wearable robot technologies. Photos, posted on the group‘s blog Friday, show wearable suits like those seen from “Iron Man” movies, although Hyundai’s don‘t cover the whole body. The wearer’s physical strength increases by simply donning them, according to the company. “The wearable robots, being developed with the aim of mass production, can be used for various purposes,” Hyundai Motor Group’s spokesperson told

May 13, 2016

Dongwon recalls tuna cans over unidentified substance

Dongwon F&B has begun a voluntary recall of its mild tuna products in response to consumer concerns over an unidentified black substance in some of the cans, the company said Friday.The recalled product is the brand’s Mild Tuna 210 g, marked with expiration dates from March 23 to April 25, 2021. The company said that about 1.17 million cans will be collected from consumers and retailers.Dongwon said through a statement that the black substance was caused by “high heat in the manufacturing proces

May 13, 2016

Hankook Tire picked as supplier for Tesla’s Model 3

Hankook Tire, the country’s largest tire-maker, was recently chosen as a supplier for Model 3, the first mass market brand of U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla, according to local news reports.The reports said the EV-only tire of Hankook was picked based on the results of a recent performance test conducted by Tesla.  Tesla’s Model 3 EVThe company, however, declined to comment on the deal, mentioning its confidentiality agreement with each client.Despite the company’s response, shares of

May 12, 2016

KT 'likely' to partner with Tesla for telematics system: sources

KT, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier, is likely to be chosen as electric vehicle maker Tesla’s partner for telematics technology solutions, according to industry sources familiar with the matter.“KT is highly likely to partner with Tesla to work in this field,” a source told The Korea Herald on Wednesday.Tesla reportedly plans to roll out its flagship models Model X and Model S in Korea early next year ahead of its release of less expensive Model 3 probably in 2018. Telematics technolo

May 12, 2016

Hankook Tire picked as supplier for Tesla’s Model 3

Hankook Tire, the country’s largest tire maker, was recently chosen as a supplier for Model 3, the first mass market brand of U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla, according to local news reports.The news reports said the EV-only tire of Hankook was picked based on the results of a recent performance test conducted by Tesla.  Tesla’s Model 3 EVThe company, however, declined to comment on the deal, mentioning a confidentiality agreement with every client on a contract.Despite the company’s re

May 12, 2016

Employees at Korean carmakers prefer Tesla for EV purchase

More than half the employees working in the nation’s automotive industry said they would consider a Tesla car for their future purchase of an electric vehicle, a survey found Wednesday. Blind, a social app provider that operates anonymous bulletin boards for employees of a specific company or an industry overall, conducted the survey on 164 members of its auto section. According to the survey, 53.7 percent of respondents said fully-electric vehicles would not become a general trend in the nation

May 11, 2016

Hyundai, Kia see Mexico sales in April hit all-time high

Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors saw their monthly car sales in Mexico hit an all-time high in April, industry data showed Wednesday.According to the data by a local automotive association, the two Korean carmakers sold a combined 7,086 units in Mexico last month, the largest since Hyundai Motor entered the market in May 2014. Their previous monthly sales record was 6,128 units set in March.Hyundai Motor sold 3,053 units in April, while Kia Motors sold 4,033 units in the same m

May 11, 2016

[Photo News] Audi rolls out new A4

Audi Korea unveiled the all-new luxury sedan Audi A4 in Seoul on Tuesday. The new sedan has 252 horsepower, a maximum torque of 38.0 kg.m. and a combined fuel efficiency of 12.5 kilometers per liter. The starting price of all-new Audi A4 is 49.5 million won ($42,185). (Audi Korea)

May 10, 2016

Hyundai Motor's cumulative sales in India top 4 mln

Hyundai Motor, Korea's leading automaker, has sold more than 4 million cars in India since its advance into the market about 20 years ago, industry data showed Tuesday.Hyundai Motor opened its local corporate body in India in 1995, with its first plant there going into operation in 1998. It opened a second plant in 2008, which raised its annual production capacity to 650,000 units.According to the data, Hyundai Motor's cumulative car sales in India surpassed the 4 million mark in November last y

May 10, 2016

[Newsmaker] Musk's strategy: Win big by falling short

Tesla Motors Inc.'s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk is known for making the future come early. And yet, somehow, he's always running behind schedule. Some would call this a failure of management. But it might just be a business strategy: call it the Musk Doctrine. It goes something like this: People only do paradigm-shifting work when they’re under tremendous pressure, so the key is to ensure deadlines are always impossible. This could help explain why Musk has never launched a product on time

May 9, 2016

Ford Explorer named best-selling foreign gasoline car in April

Ford’s popular Explorer SUV topped in a ranking of month sales among gasoline-powered foreign cars in April, data showed Monday.According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, Ford topped in the gasoline car segment by selling 422 units of 2.3-liter Ford Explorer, a seven-seater sport utility vehicle, pushing Mercedes-Benz C 200 Coupe down to second spot.  Ford Korea’s Explorer 2.3, the best-selling imported gasoline car in April (Ford Korea)As to growing popularity of

May 9, 2016