Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, has become an official global automotive partner of top Premier League Chelsea football club, the company said Tuesday. Hyundai’s logo will appear on advertising boards in the stadium, and Hyundai’s vehicles displayed at the club’s home stadium Stamford Bridge.Chelsea players will also wear jerseys with Hyundai’s logo embedded on the left sleeve for the next four years starting August this year, when the new season begins, the company said. (from l

Mobility June 12, 2018

Amid instabilities surrounding oil-exporting countries, gas prices in Korea have risen for eight weeks in a row and averaged 1,610 won ($1.50) per liter as of Monday, industry figures showed.According to gas price information provider Opinet, gas prices in Korea averaged 1,610 won per liter at the start of the week, retaining the highest rate since December 2014.At stations across Seoul, the average cost of gas surged to 1,696 won, up 0.19 percent from the previous day. The most expensive statio

Mobility June 11, 2018

Hyundai Mobis has started a software training program at a cost of 1.4 billion won ($1.2 million) at its research center in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to beef up its automotive software professionals by five times by 2025, according to the firm on Sunday.The auto parts unit of Hyundai Motor Group said it has widened the role of its research and development centers in India and Vietnam to serve as a global base to analyze information collected by the firm’s self-developed automated vehicle.“In th

Mobility June 10, 2018

BUSAN -- GM Korea, the local unit of the US auto giant, said Thursday it expects to make a turnaround next year on newly launched cars centered on sport utility vehicles.“I’m confident to say that we have landed on significant agreement with all our stakeholders that enables us to move forward. I’d like to think that we can try to get to profitability as soon as next year,” GM Korea chief Kaher Kazem said during a meeting with reporters at the Busan motor show. GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem answers q

Mobility June 8, 2018

BUSAN -- Major imported car makers are showcasing their green car lineups and future eco-friendly vehicle plans at the ninth Busan International Motor Show that opens this week, aiming at the steadily growing local market.Highlighting the event was the world premiere by Mercedes-Benz Korea, which unveiled the plug-in hybrid version of its top selling 10th generation E-class, named the new E 300 e.The automaker also revealed the concept EQA, the first compact-sized electric vehicle under the EQ E

Mobility June 7, 2018

BUSAN -- Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, unveiled for the first time its second design concept car, dubbed HDC-2 Grandmaster Concept, at the Busan International Motor Show opening this week, and introduced details for the high performance N brand.Portraying the direction of Hyundai’s future design strategy, the second design concept that takes the form of a sport utility vehicle is aimed to display “sensuous sportiness,” the automaker said.The unveiling took place on Thursday, a

Mobility June 7, 2018

With one of the biggest auto industry events in South Korea kicking off this week, the spotlight of the 2018 Busan International Motor Show will be on the world premiere of Mercedes-Benz’s EQ model and Hyundai Motors’ large sport utility vehicle concept.Held under the slogan “Beyond Innovation, Into the Future” the 10-day event opens Friday and runs through June 17 in the southeastern port city of Busan, with some 15 automakers displaying over 200 models, event organizer Busan Exhibition & Conve

Mobility June 6, 2018

Amid concerns of South Korea’s auto industry losing competitiveness due to high labor cost and low efficiency, Hyundai Motor and the Gwangju Metropolitan City Government have begun discussing a joint factory in Gwangju.Nine Hyundai working-level officials visited Gwangju earlier this week to inspect the site of the factory that is expected to complete construction by 2020. When built, it would create over 12,000 new jobs in the city, while lowering production cost for automakers by lowering wage

Mobility June 5, 2018

Ever felt a sense of total devastation? How about trying to push a giant SUV forward so that it can make room for your car to drive out of a parking spot in a triple-park situation -- while running late to work.Such a conundrum is routine for many Seoulites who live in a congested city with limited parking spots at their residences. To make things worse, such conflicts often lead to violent confrontations among neighbors. In South Korea, where cars are viewed as a symbol of socioeconomic status,

Mobility May 25, 2018

Posco will invest 1.1 trillion won ($101.9 million) for improved safety in the next three years, the company said Thursday. Its safety related budget has doubled after the death of four workers due to nitrogen gas inhalation at its steel mill in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, last January.A total 36.9 billion won will go to training safety professionals and setting up a safety control tower, 511.4 billion won will be spent on enhancing safety devices, and 11.4 billion won in educating partne

Industry May 24, 2018

Hanwha Engineering & Construction has received $230 million from the Iraqi government for the Bismayah New City development project there, the company said Thursday.The latest payment includes outstanding payments from last year and part of this year’s contract fees.Hanwha E&C has so far received $3.4 billion out of the $10.1 billion contract. A bird’s eye view of the ongoing Bismayah New City construction (Hanwha Engineering & Construction)The firm won the construction deal with the Iraqi gover

Industry May 24, 2018

Hyundai Motor Group retracted its spinoff merger plan for Hyundai Mobis and Hyundai Glovis on Monday, citing the views of the market and shareholders that had widely been against the move. Auto parts unit Mobis and logistics arm Glovis’ board of directors each called off the general meeting initially set for May 29, when the group’s reform plan announced in late March was to be put to a vote.Mobis and Glovis instead decided to revise and improve on the measures. “We will humbly review and suffic

Mobility May 21, 2018

Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts making arm of Hyundai Group at the center of the group’s restructuring plan, has canceled its upcoming general meeting, the company said Monday.Hyundai Mobis’ board of directors called off the meeting initially set for May 29, when the group’s spinoff merger plan would have been put to a vote. Starting with Elliott Management, which has been pressuring Hyundai to take the form of a holding company, there has been opposition from major proxy firms in and out of the c

Mobility May 21, 2018

Renault Samsung Motors, the local unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., has launched the Clio hatchback with an aim to start a new boom in the local compact car market, the company said Sunday.Clio is Renault’s best-selling car with about 14 million units sold worldwide since its release in 1990. Due to a lack of demand for hatchbacks here, where sedans and sport utility vehicles are highly preferred, Clio was introduced to Korean drivers last week. Renault Samsung Motors’ hatchback Clio (Renaul

Mobility May 20, 2018

Posco, South Korea’s No.1 steelmaker, took home two awards at this year’s S&P Global Platts Metals Awards for the first time among local steel companies, the company said Friday. Posco was named the winner in steel industry leadership, and received the grand Metal Company of the Year award at the ceremony held in London, attended by about 250 officials, the company said.S&P Global Platts, energy and commodities information provider, has been hosting the annual awards from 2013, recognizing compa

Mobility May 18, 2018