VW ranked No. 2 in August with rapid on-year growth in salesVolkswagen, which has the dominant position in Beijing in market share, was not a noteworthy automaker in Korea about 10 years ago.Though Volkswagen saw its sales ranking gradually rise over the past few years, it has fallen behind the other two German players ― BMW and Mercedes-Benz ― among import brands in Korea.Last month, Volkswagen ranked second in sales among 24 import automobile brands in the local market, overtaking Mercedes-Be

Mobility Sept. 9, 2012

Hyundai Motor Group has decided to keep its yearly sales target of 7 million vehicles at home and abroad untouched, despite the union’s partial strike in August and weak domestic demand.Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors suffered a production drop by 130,000 units compared to a monthly average due mainly to the labor dispute last month.The two automakers also saw sales in the local market fall by 30 percent from the previous year.“Though we’ve suffered difficulties, we are pinning hopes

Industry Sept. 7, 2012

New SM3 targets young consumers; Ssangyong’s Rexton W to be assembled in IndiaRenault Samsung Motors and Ssangyong Motor are gearing up to bounce back from their prolonged sales slump in the local market.Renault Samsung, the fourth-largest automaker in Korea, has launched sales of the New SM3 early this month. Ssangyong Motor will begin production of the Rexton W at a factory in India where the company’s parent group Mahindra & Mahindra is located. The New SM3, the facelift version of Renault Sa

Industry Sept. 6, 2012

Nokia-like failure may undermine overall economy: economistThe Korean economy holds a critically risky factor as it has been heavily dependent upon the two largest conglomerates ― Samsung and Hyundai Motor, economists say.Their worries and skeptical view over the nation’s economic structure revolve around the fact that earnings of Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group account for a great portion of the nation’s gross domestic product.The economy of Finland was led to “falter” due to its flagship

Industry Sept. 5, 2012

The fiscal status of local governments in major provinces has worsened critically as their combined debt has snowballed over the past five years.When the nation was hit by the 2008 global financial crisis, the central government recklessly used budgets held by local governments for boosting the economy, according to some research analysts.Local governments expanded their expenditure by issuing local bonds, and as a result, their debt increased by 61 percent from 17.4 trillion won ($15.5 billion)

Industry Sept. 4, 2012

The presidential office on Tuesday downplayed the rumor that Korea Electric Power Corp. CEO Kim Joong-kyum will soon be dismissed.Speculation has risen that President Lee Myung-bak is considering replacing the top post at the state-run KEPCO as Kim’s management was going against government policies.While Cheong Wa Dae said it is “not considering” whether to discharge Kim “at the current stage,” public officials still did not rule out the possibility of dismissal before Kim’s term expires. Kim ha

Industry Sept. 4, 2012

Shinsegae Department Store will launch a special wine product, dubbed “Dokdo Wine,” this Friday.Korean-American dentist Ahn Jae-hyun, who is also founder of the “Dokdo Winery,” has been producing the wine in Napa Valley, United States. The wine is labeled “799-805,” named after Korea’s easternmost Dokdo islets’ postal code.As his individual effort to spread the historial fact that Dokdo belongs to Korea and not Japan, Ahn is donating some of the profits from sales of wine to organizations campai

Industry Aug. 30, 2012

Fairness has come under spotlight over the recent verdict on the patent lawsuit between Samsung Electronics and Apple.Local market observers including some analysts remained cynical over the situation that Apple won a billion dollars last week, after a jury ruled that Samsung had copied a handful of features from the iPhone.They cast doubt if the jury really profoundly reviewed a variety of documents, tendered from both sides, which involve technology-related sophisticated content. “While attorn

Industry Aug. 29, 2012

Brokerage houses are issuing the “buy” opinion on shares of Samsung Electronics despite Apple’s winning in a patent lawsuit against the Korean electronics giant in the U.S.Many research analysts say that uncertainties and a worse-than-expected scenario had already been reflected in Samsung stock prices.Citi Global Market Securities said that recent stock prices of Samsung Electronics was already impacted by anxiety over results from the suit in the U.S., advising that “it would be better to purc

Aug. 28, 2012