Foreign carmakers made relatively small donations to social causes despite massive improvements in financial figures, data showed Wednesday.According to regulatory filings from the country’s top three foreign carmakers ― BMW Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Audi Volkswagen Korea ― their sales and profits saw significant improvements from 2009.BMW Korea was the top-performing foreign carmaker last ye

Industry April 13, 2011

Shinsegae Corp.’s new premium outlet in Paju, north of Seoul, could face government restrictions after smaller retailers protested that it hurts their businesses.The Small and Medium Business Administration launched an inquiry on Monday to determine the scale of damage sustained by small- and medium-sized discount outlets in the area since Shinsegae Chelsea opened on March 18.The smaller stores cl

Industry April 12, 2011

Korea Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon discussed the stalled free trade negotiations with his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming during their meeting in Beijing on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. The meeting raised expectations for the two governments to put their FTA negotiations on a fast track. Seoul and Beijing began preliminary government-level talks in September but made lit

April 11, 2011

Hyundai Heavy Industries announced Sunday that it completed building the world’s largest gas-powered power station in Saudi Arabia.Located in Jubail in Eastern Saudi Arabia, the plant was built as part of a $2.7 billion contract for a power and desalination plant issued by the state-run utilities firm Marafiq in 2007. The contract was awarded to an international consortium composed of Hyundai Heav

Industry April 10, 2011

Kia Motors Corp. is offering free checkups to mark its exports hitting over 10 million units on March 23. As part of the event, the company will be offering checkups to Kia owners living on major islands scattered along the coast of the country, including Ullenung island in the East Sea, until May 19. Starting Tuesday, the company will check the air conditioning systems fitted in Kia vehicles used

Mobility April 10, 2011

Hyundai Motor Group announced Sunday that its two carmakers signed a memorandum of understanding with NHN Corp. to collaborate in the field of automotive information technology and telematics.NHN is the operator of the country’s top search engine Naver. Combining telecommunications and informatics, telematics for automobiles refers to the application of wireless telecommunications tools including

Mobility April 10, 2011

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. announced Wednesday that it signed a contract to supply eight wind-power generators to a Finnish power company.According to Hyundai Heavy, this is the first time a Korean company has been contracted to supply wind-power generating equipment to a European country. Under the contract, Hyundai Heavy will deliver eight 2-megawatt wind-power generators to Finnish Power to b

Industry April 6, 2011

LSIS, a local electric equipment manufacturer, is taking part in the Hannover Messe exhibition as it gears up to expand its global operations, the company said Wednesday.The company said that its exhibits at the show, which is held in Hannover, Germany until Friday, includes power control and automation products, and green business solutions such as electric car chargers, and solar energy solution

Industry April 6, 2011