Following the effectuation of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement in 2012, both countries fully lifted their import tariffs on vehicles early last year. Since the implementation, data shows that Korea’s imports of US cars have increased, while the number of Korean domestic vehicles exported to the US has dropped.　In 2015, 1.06 million units were exported from Korea to the US. Last year, the figure decreased to 964,432 units, according to data from the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association and

Mobility Feb. 13, 2017

While the recent inauguration of US President Donald Trump has the local business community in a frenzy, anticipating drastic alterations to the Korea-US free trade agreement, the roughly 2,500 European companies currently operating in Korea have their focuses set elsewhere. 　In an annual Business Confidence Survey conducted late last year by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea and Roland Berger, the majority of European businesses in South Korea voiced concerns over the increasing difficu

Feb. 10, 2017

GM Korea CEO James Kim has set Chevrolet’s domestic market annual sales target at 194,000 units, the highest-ever local sales goal for the global brand, according to GM on Thursday. 　Last year the company sold 180,275 units, a 13.8 percent increase compared to the previous year. The results marked the first time the brand broke the 180,000-marker since it first entered Korea’s imported car market in 2011.  GM Korea CEO James Kim (fourth from left) and Vice President of Vehicle Sales, Services an

Mobility Feb. 9, 2017

Hundreds of Audi Volkswagen Korea customers are refusing to comply with the local auto distributors’ recall measures for its illegally faked emissions vehicles, according to the law firm Barun Law LLC. 　Last month, the Korean government announced it had approved Volkswagen’s first round of recall plans for 27,000 Tiguan SUVs to begin on Monday. 　However, following the recall approval, 610 Tiguan owners filed a law suit with the administrative court against the Ministry of Environment last month

Mobility Feb. 7, 2017

German auto giant Mercedes-Benz sold 6,848 cars domestically last month, marking a 59.3 percent on-year spike, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said on Monday. 　Mercedes-Benz Korea’s market share among the imported cars has also reached 41 percent last month, up more than 14 percent from the same month last year. 　Mercedes-Benz Korea has been showing phenomenal growth in the domestic import cars market in recent years, selling more than 2 million units for the first time

Mobility Feb. 6, 2017

South Korea’s eco-friendly car market is continuing its rapid growth as the number of the country’s green cars increased by 63.9 percent from 2015 to 2016, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said Monday. 　Despite still lagging severely behind the Chinese, US and European markets, the local hybrid and electric market sold a total of 68,774 eco-friendly cars last year, compared to 41,956 the previous year. The increase was the highest proportional rise worldwide. 　Sales of h

Mobility Feb. 6, 2017

The nation’s No. 2 carmaker Kia Motors saw its sales in China plummet 38.9 percent last month, according to company and industry sources on Sunday. 　Kia Motors said it sold 30,800 units to its Chinese factory in January, down 18,459 vehicles compared to the 49,259 units sold during the same month last year. Retail sales have also dropped 13.1 percent. 　According to news reports, a number of industry insiders suspect the slump in sales is linked to Chinese dealers demanding Kia compensate them fo

Mobility Feb. 5, 2017

Imported trucks celebrated a record year last year, seeing a 75.8 percent spike in sales from 2015, according the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. 　Non-domestic truck sales stood a 7,726 units in 2016 compared to the previous year’s 4,396 units, KAMA’s data showed Sunday. 　Following the enactment of the Korea-EU and Korea-US free trade agreements in 2011 and 2012, respectively, tariffs on imported vehicles have been removed, sparking an increase in competition and demand in the domest

Mobility Feb. 5, 2017

A total of 5,204 vehicles across 19 different non-domestic car models are being recalled by local distributors of brands including Honda, Nissan, Land Rover and Maserati, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday.Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan will be initiating a combined recall of 3,565 vehicles from four different models.  (Yonhap)Honda Korea will recall 1,407 Accords that are equipped with Takata air bags, which have led to fatal accidents in other countries beca

Mobility Feb. 2, 2017

Select students of Mercedes-Benz’s Mobile Academy visit the Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. (Mercedes-Benz Korea)Select students from the annual Mercedes-Benz Mobile Academy won the opportunity to visit the luxury auto giant’s headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, the company said Tuesday. 　The Mobile Academy is an industry-academy joint project run by the carmaker, aimed to nurture and develop students looking to pursue a career in the automotive industry. 　Fifteen students were

Mobility Feb. 1, 2017

Following the recent inauguration of US President Donald Trump, economic tensions are soaring as the new US administration’s tougher trade policy stance and “America first” approach may drastically impact the terms of the current Korea-US Free Trade Agreement. 　This year is already shaping up to be a monumental period for the two countries' economic and political relationship with a new US president, the pending election of a new South Korean president, as well as a new US Ambassador to Korea fo

Feb. 1, 2017

Domestic automobile production saw a 7.2 percent decrease last year compared to 2015, marking the lowest production rate for local automakers in six years, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.　Seven domestic automakers -- Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Ssangyong Motor, Renault Samsung Motors, Daewoo Bus and Tata Daewoo -- manufactured a combined total of roughly 4.23 million units in Korea last year, down 330,000 vehicles. 　The decline in domestic production is wide

Mobility Jan. 31, 2017

Special prosecutors said Monday that they plan to seek another arrest warrant for Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of President Park Geun-hye at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal, after she refused to undergo questioning over bribery allegations.Choi rejected the questioning in apparent protest against what she calls a "coercive" probe. The probe team, led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, has dismissed her criticism of the investigation as groundless."We plan to seek an arrest war

Politics Jan. 30, 2017