A South Korean court on Thursday slapped a 2.8 billion won ($2.48 million) fine on Mercedes-Benz Korea for selling some 7,000 vehicles equipped with unauthorized parts in violation of Korea’s Clean Air Conservation Act and customs law.The Seoul Central District Court said a Benz employee surnamed Kim “has been arrested and sentenced to eight months in jail for failing to straighten out the matter for three years and a half on top of four penalties levied.” Kim was in charge of receiving approval

Mobility Dec. 20, 2018

South Korea’s automakers will see lackluster sales in their three major overseas markets next year as well as at home due to slowing economies, trade disputes and rising lending rates, a research institute affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group said at a seminar Thursday. Hyundai Motor’s Global Business Intelligence Center predicted that vehicles sales in the US would be about 17 million next year, down 1.4 percent from an estimated 17.25 million this year. Sales in Europe would drop 0.2 percent to

Mobility Dec. 20, 2018

South Korea’s trade volume with China reached $247.3 billion in the first 11 months of this year, rising to the level reached before a diplomatic row over the deployment of an anti-missile system here took a toll on trade between the two countries, government data showed Wednesday.Korea’s No. 1 export and import market has been China since the South Korea-China free trade agreement was inked in December 2015, accounting for roughly 25 percent of Korea’s trade turnover and about twice the volume

Industry Dec. 19, 2018

GM Korea was given the green light Tuesday by the Korea Development Bank to proceed with the controversial setup of an independent research and development entity here, ending a monthslong tug-of-war since GM shut down a factory here this February as part of global restructuring. In return, GM Korea reaffirmed its long-term commitment, which centers on its plan to make Korea General Motors’ production base for all-new sub-compact SUVs and all-new crossover utility vehicles. GM Korea’s unionized

Mobility Dec. 18, 2018

Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automotive group, is slated to begin construction of its new headquarters, dubbed the Global Business Center, in southern Seoul in the first half of next year, with the government moving to clear regulatory hurdles for the project that had hit a snag for years.The development comes as part of government plans shared at the economy-related ministers’ meeting, led by President Moon Jae-in on Monday, on fostering economic growth in 2019 by encouraging

Mobility Dec. 17, 2018

GM Korea, the local unit of the US automaker, said Thursday that the state-run Korea Development Bank has completed recapitalization of $375 million as part of the rescue plan signed in late April, raising prospects of the automaker and its second-largest shareholder narrowing their differences on GM’s spinoff plan.This is the latest development amid ongoing talks between related parties after a Seoul court approved an injunction against the process related to GM Korea’s spinoff of GM Technical

Mobility Dec. 13, 2018

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s No. 1 automotive company, has pledged 1.67 trillion won ($1.4 billion) in support of local small and midsize auto parts suppliers in a move to restore stability and bolster research and development, the company said Thursday.Due to tumbling sales at Hyundai and Kia, which stand as the world’s fifth-largest automaker, their parts suppliers have been posting operating losses or seeking debt workout programs in recent months. To assuage growing instability, in October t

Mobility Dec. 13, 2018

Following a recent fire at an oil storage center and hot water pipeline ruptures that have caused casualties here, South Korea’s Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo on Wednesday reaffirmed the ministry’s principle of zero tolerance by calling an emergency meeting of agencies in the energy sector, underscoring the importance of safety management. Yun summoned the leaders of 31 government agencies in the energy sector -- including Korea District Heating Corp., Korea Gas Corp., Korea Na

Industry Dec. 12, 2018

CHUNGJU, North Chungcheong Province -- Hyundai Motor Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun on Tuesday introduced the automaker’s long-term plan to manufacture 500,000 units of fuel cell electric vehicles here annually by 2030 in an effort to overtake rivals Japan and China in the FCEV market.With these goals in mind, Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts supplier, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its second hydrogen fuel cell stack factory, which when complete is expected to produce stacks for some 40

Mobility Dec. 11, 2018

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors’ green car sales are widely expected to grow further in 2019 on the back of the government’s increased budget to expand the use of ecofriendly cars here, industry insiders said Sunday. The two flagship companies of Hyundai Motor Group sold a combined 257,861 units globally between January and November this year, up 10 percent on-year, according to officials.By vehicle type, sales of electric vehicles soared 112.4 percent to 52,370 units, plug-in-hybrids 51.9 percent

Mobility Dec. 9, 2018

Posco Daewoo, the trading unit of Posco, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a solar plant that it will build for free of charge on an island in Myanmar in hopes of boosting ties with the country, the company said SundayThe latest project, put together at the request of Myanmar’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy, will offer electricity to some 1,000 households on Manaung Island, the company said.“We are delighted to be able to provide practical help to Myanmar. We also hope to forge a cooperati

Industry Dec. 9, 2018

SK Group on Thursday appointed Lee Seok-hee as the CEO of SK hynix in its annual reshuffle, alongside new leaders named for SK Gas, SK Engineering & Construction and SK Global Chemical. “Lee has the leadership and world-class expertise in chipmaking, and has taken the posts as the heads of SK hynix’s R&D division, head of DRAM business unit, and COO. All in all, he is viewed as the right figure to secure sustainable competitiveness,” said SK Group in a statement. Park Sung-wook, who had led the

Industry Dec. 6, 2018

Hankook Tire has set up new operations overseas as part of its reshuffle aimed at strengthening business outside of the country, the company said Wednesday.New overseas businesses to take effectuation starting Jan. 1 are a division that oversees the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions, corporate bodies in Austria, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam and branches in Thailand and Serbia. (Yonhap)A “car life division” in charge of sales of passenger vehicle tires and truck tire

Industry Dec. 5, 2018

As the global auto industry prepares to usher in the era of autonomous driving, carmakers are increasingly presenting concept cars with unique exterior and interior designs, breaking away from traditional style.Sharing his thoughts about the role of design in future mobility, legendary car designer with Jaguar Ian Callum said Wednesday that Jaguar’s driverless cars will be equipped with steering wheels, while acknowledging the silhouette of cars in general will undergo change.“I think it will be

Mobility Dec. 5, 2018

Encouraged by signs of improving sales in the US, South Korean automaker Hyundai is going trendy in marketing its next vehicles in the global market. According to Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, they sold a combined 102,600 units in the US in November, up 1.1 percent on-year. Hyundai Motor’s sales last month in the US market came to 57,082 units, up 3 percent on-year, while Kia Motors saw a 1.8 percent increase at 45,101 units. Increased sales in the US, largely due to the wider range of sport uti

Mobility Dec. 4, 2018