Korean Air teams up with SK Energy for ‘carbon-neutral’ flight

Korean Air said Monday that it had joined hands with petroleum and refinery company SK Energy to launch carbon-neutral jet fuel in an effort to tackle climate change. Under the partnership, the airline will purchase a month’s worth of carbon-neutral jet fuel for domestic flights departing from Jeju and Cheongju. Carbon-neutral jet fuel can be achieved when enough carbon credits are purchased to offset the total carbon footprint produced through fuel production, transport and consumption

Sept. 6, 2021

[Behind the Wheel] Volkswagen Tiguan -- good value, low price

It is not the fanciest car, but Volkswagen’s Tiguan shows that being faithful to the basics can be a charm. Around the globe, the sport utility vehicle has sold over 6 million units, earning a reputation as a steady seller. For Volkswagen Korea, it is the most important model, since it accounted for over 10,000 of the 17,615 units the company sold last year. With a clear and differentiated strategy to position itself as the best value for money among all imported car brands, Volkswage

Sept. 5, 2021

Hyundai Glovis to enter gas shipping market after striking deal with Trafigura

Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Group, announced on Sunday it will enter the gas shipping market in 2024 after striking a multi-year deal with major commodity trading company Trafigura. The shipping deal with the Switzerland-based company will see the Hyundai Glovis carry ammonia and liquefied natural gas for up to 10 years for global markets. Two very large gas carriers (VLGC), which boast 86,000 square meters in capacity, will be built with 200 billion won ($173.2 million) in in

Sept. 5, 2021

Genesis to go all electric by 2025

Genesis, the luxury auto brand of Hyundai Motor Group, will completely phase out internal combustion cars by 2025, it said Thursday, becoming the first Hyundai-owned car brand to announce a full transition to electric vehicles. Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun presented the EV-only vision for Genesis, appearing in a livestream video on its official YouTube channel. He said the brand will achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. “Genesis has been on an intensive, bold and successful

Sept. 2, 2021

Sacha Askidjian tapped as new head of AVK Volkswagen division

Audi Volkswagen Korea has appointed Sacha Askidjian as the new managing director of the Volkswagen brand in Korea, the company announced Thursday. He will replace Stephan Krapp starting from Oct. 1, who will move to the company’s headquarters in Germany to take charge of pricing strategies of Volkswagen cars in Europe. Joining the Audi Volkswagen Group in 2000, Askidjian built a 10-year career in customer service and marketing at the group’s French office. He moved on to the gr

Sept. 2, 2021

Aug. car sales fall 4.5% amid chip shortage

South Korean carmakers' sales fell 4.5 percent last month from a year earlier as an extended global chip shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on vehicle production and sales, industry data showed Wednesday. The country's five carmakers -- Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., GM Korea Co., Renault Samsung Motors Corp. and SsangYong Motor Co. -- sold a combined 544,992 vehicles in August, down from 570,601 units a year ago, according to data from the companies. Their domestic sales dec

Sept. 1, 2021

Hyundai unveils mini SUV Casper

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker, on Wednesday unveiled the mini SUV Casper in the latest move to diversify its product lineup. The Casper comes with a 1.0-liter multi-point injection engine or a 1.0-liter gasoline direction injection engine, the company said in a statement. Hyundai plans to launch the entry-level SUV in the domestic market within this month, a company spokesman said, without elaborating on prices or other details. (Yonhap)

Sept. 1, 2021

Renault Samsung to develop eco-friendly car with Lynk & Co

Renault Group set up a joint venture with China’s Geely Automobile Holdings earlier this month and plans to unveil a Renault brand hybrid passenger car in China and have Renault Samsung Motors develop an eco-friendly vehicle. For the new eco-friendly car, Renault Group said it will share technologies with Lynk & Co, a Chinese-Swedish automobile brand owned by Geely. The research and development team of Renault Samsung is expected to work on an eco-friendly car tailored to Korean cust

Aug. 31, 2021

Incheon Airport to offer 24-hour unmanned currency exchange service

Incheon International Airport is planning to start offering an unmanned currency exchange service beginning in February 2022. Dubbed the “unmanned currency exchange zone,” currency exchange machines will be installed in the airport’s Terminal 2 and will be in service 24 hours a day, officials at Incheon International Airport Corporation said on Monday. IIAC is currently in talks with major banks to introduce the service. Shinhan Bank is on board with the move, according to on

Aug. 30, 2021

[Behind the Wheel] Kia EV6 aims to rule road with ‘tiger-like’ performance

Kia has rolled out its first all-electric vehicle, the EV6, racking up over 30,000 preorders. From the appearance alone, the compact sport utility vehicle’s exuberant presence could be felt from its sleek and aggressive exterior design with the “Digital Tiger Face” front. On the road, the vehicle showed off a performance that goes well beyond the favorable first impression, reminiscent of a sports car. The Korea Herald had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the Kia

Aug. 30, 2021

Ssangyong Motor to speed up process of seeking new buyer

Troubled automaker SsangYong Motor is speeding up the process of finding a new buyer after undergoing preliminary due diligence. The Korean arm of Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra plans on receiving acquisition proposals until mid-September from potential buyers, according to industry sources Sunday, with a preferred bidder set to be chosen based on the acquisition price and business plan. A total of 11 investors from home and abroad have submitted letters of intent to take part in the

Aug. 29, 2021

Kia workers OK wage deal without strike for 1st time in 10 years

Unionized workers at Kia, South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, voted Friday to accept the company's wage proposals without a strike for the first time in a decade. Kia said 68 percent of 26,945 workers voted in favor of wage offers that include an increase of 75,000 won ($64.30) in monthly basic pay, two months of wages in performance-based pay and cash bonuses worth 5.8 million won. More than 1,600 out of the 28,604-member union abstained. But Kia rejected the union's demand to extend the

Aug. 27, 2021

Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation revamps scholarship program

Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation has revamped its scholarship program to foster 1,100 talents in the next five years, the foundation said Wednesday. Renamed Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Scholarship, the scholarships will support talented people in five different categories: global, future industry, international cooperation, social innovation, and art and culture. The foundation seeks to provide the recipients not only with financial support, but with education opportunities to groom t

Aug. 25, 2021

Han Sung Motor donates Dream Gream online store profits to youth shelters

Han Sung Motor has donated 20 million won ($17,028) earned from running Dream Gream online merch store and more to 10 youth shelters around the country, the official Mercedes-Benz dealer said Monday. The auto dealership opened the online store offering merchandise made by students participating in its Dream Gream art scholarship program in June. As part of its social outreach efforts, Han Sung Motor has been supporting middle and high school students with artistic talents through the progra

Aug. 23, 2021

Specter of labor strike grows at HMM

Unionized longshore workers at South Korea’s largest shipper, HMM, began voting Sunday on whether to go on strike after three rounds of wage negotiations failed. Should they vote in favor of the collection action, it will mark the first strike at the shipper since its establishment in 1796. The longshore workers’ union has around 450 members. Results are scheduled to come out Monday afternoon. The motion is likely to pass, according to local media reports, as the labor union an

Aug. 22, 2021

GM to recall another 73,000 Bolt EVs over fire risks

American automaker General Motors said it will expand the recall of Chevy Bolt electric vehicles equipped with South Korean supplier LG's batteries over fire risks, which is expected to additionally cost about US$1 billion. The latest recall covers 73,000 Bolt EVs and EUVs from model years 2019 through 2022 sold in the United States and Canada to replace the defective battery modules. It is on top of about 69,000 Bolt EVs from 2017-2019 model years included in the previous recall in July over

Aug. 21, 2021

Incheon airport's passenger traffic hits high for 2021 in early Aug.

The number of daily passengers at Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, rose to the highest point this year in early August as more people traveled during the summer holiday season amid the vaccination drive, data showed Saturday. An average of 10,987 passengers used the Incheon airport a day from Aug. 1-19, up 47 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data by the Incheon International Airport Corp. On Aug. 13, two days ahead of Liberation Day, 15,55

Aug. 21, 2021

Korean Air to replace A380, 747-8I with smaller planes for efficiency: CEO

Korean Air plans to replace its A380-800 and B747-8I aircraft with smaller planes to increase efficiency, the carrier’s chief executive officer said Thursday. Cho Won-tae, the chairman of Hanjin Group and Korean Air CEO, said he has confirmed the plan to ditch the Airbus A380-800 in the next five years and Boeing’s 747-8I over the next 10 years in an interview with FlightGlobal. Korean Air currently owns 10 units of both the A380-800 with 407 seats and the B747-8i with 368 seats.

Aug. 20, 2021

[Behind the Wheel] Land Rover’s iconic Defender 90 comes back stronger

First launched in 1948, Jaguar Land Rover’s legendary off-roader Defender has made a grand comeback with a completely new look. At first glance, the makeover gives the Defender 90 a futuristic look yet embraces enough of its original features to retain its identity as the iconic sport utility vehicle specializing in off-road driving. One of the most noticeable changes was the round edges of the four-wheel car’s contour, which used to be sharp and angular in the original models.

Aug. 19, 2021

Samsung to sell stake in Renault Samsung Motors after 21 years

Credit card company Samsung Card will divest all of its 19.9 percent stake in automaker Renault Samsung Motors, in a sale that would pull the plug on its parent Samsung Group’s old, botched auto dream. The company said the decision was made recently and has tapped Samsung Securities, Samsung Group’s financial investment arm, to lead the exit. “Though we are pursuing the stake sale, details such as the method of sale, the buyer and the process have yet to be decided,” t

Aug. 19, 2021