Hyundai Motor’s premium brand Genesis surpassed Mercedes-Benz in sales for the first time in four years in the local market, industry data showed Monday. According to the auto industry, Genesis sold 60,005 vehicles in the January-July period this year, while Mercedes-Benz and BMW sold 41,583 and 29,246, respectively. Sales of Genesis jumped 65 percent compared to the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz, on the other hand, increased 3 percent and BMW rose by 35 percent. In 2016, the

Mobility Aug. 17, 2020

Hyundai Glovis said Thursday it has partnered with Incheon International Airport Corp. to establish a smart parking system. The South Korean logistics firm has signed an agreement with the IIAC to establish a test bed for smart parking. The signing ceremony was attended by CEO Kim Jung-hoon and IIAC President Koo Bon-hwan. Under the agreement, the company plans to carry out smart parking system projects in three stages, including technical verification of parking robots, pilot operation of

Mobility Aug. 13, 2020

SsangYong Motor is facing increased pressure to find new investors as it struggles to stay financially afloat as one of its local creditors withdrew their loans. Industry sources said KB Kookmin Bank has recently recovered all loans from SsangYong Motor, the balance of which stood at 8.75 billion won ($7.39 million) as of the end of the first quarter. The move puts the automaker under more pressure to repay other borrowings in time, with 389.9 billion won worth of loans coming due over the ne

Mobility Aug. 13, 2020

GM Korea said Thursday its Chevrolet Trailblazer has been awarded the annual Wards 10 Best UX list by US automotive analysis provider WardsAuto. WardsAuto has been selecting 10 best user experience vehicles since 2016 by assessing the user-friendly technology such as touchscreens, smartphone pairing, voice-control navigation, head-up displays and the effectiveness of driver-assistance technologies such as adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring. A total of 18 models with new or hi

Mobility Aug. 13, 2020

  GEOJE, South Gyeongsang Province -- HMM St. Petersburg is the world’s largest container ship, capable of carrying 24,000, 20-foot container boxes at once. The vessel is about 400 meters long, 61 meters wide and 33.2 meters high, and the deck is about 400 meters. HMM St. Petersburg is the last 24,000 TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units, vessel of 12 super-large ships built as part of South Korea’s five-year plan to rebuild the country’s shipping industry. Sev

Mobility Aug. 12, 2020

HMM said Monday it has secured stable business for Spain’s container terminal Total Terminal International Algeciras through strategic partnership with French shipping company CMA CGM. The South Korean shipping firm said it has signed a contract to sell a 50 percent stake in Algeciras container terminal to CMA CGM. HMM still maintains its status as the largest shareholder by holding 25 million plus one shares through a special purpose company. Through the contract, HMM can secure pr

Industry Aug. 10, 2020

Asiana Airlines posted an operating profit over 100 billion won ($84 million) in the second quarter, for the first time in six quarters, according to the firm’s regulatory filings Friday.  The nation’s flag carrier said its operating profit was tentatively estimated at 115.1 billion won in the April-June period. Quarterly sales fell 44.7 percent to 818.6 billion won year-on-year. Net profit turned to a surplus of 116.2 billion won. Similar to Korean Air, the cargo sector led

Mobility Aug. 7, 2020

Share prices of LG Chem, Korea’s leading battery maker, jumped nearly 10 percent on Friday on expectations of rising demand for electric vehicles, ranking third in market capitalization in the nation’s securities market.  　 LG Chem shares rose 9.71 percent from the previous trading day to close at 746,000 won ($629). 　 At one point during the day, the price rose 11.47 percent to 758,000 won from a day earlier, hitting another record high. LG Chem’s market value has su

Technology Aug. 7, 2020

Hyundai Motor will join hands with British mobility company to speed up the development of infrastructure related to urban air mobility, the automaker confirmed Thursday. Hyundai Air Mobility, a unit of Hyundai Motor Group, and UK-based Urban-Air Port agreed to partner to jointly develop infrastructure for urban air mobility, which is urban transportation systems to move people and cargo by air, according to Hyundai Motor. Under the partnership, Hyundai Air Mobility and Urban-Air Port plan

Mobility Aug. 6, 2020

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Wednesday it appointed Kim Jee-seop, vice president of customer services department, as interim president and CEO. Bjorn Hauber, president of Mercedes-Benz Sweden and Denmark, was originally appointed as the president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea as of August 1, but could not take the position due to personal reasons, the automaker said. Kim joined Mercedes-Benz Korea in 2002 through the Mercedes-Benz Global Asia Management Associate Program. He worked at the Da

Mobility Aug. 5, 2020

Posco International and the Rural Development Administration will jointly support farmers in Myanmar and strengthen the value chain of food projects through public-private cooperation, the company said Wednesday. The nation’s largest trading company said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the RDA to improve the value chain of Myanmar’s rice business, ranging from variety, cultivation, processing and distribution. The ceremony, held in Posco International’s Se

Industry Aug. 5, 2020

Seven Korean companies, including Coupang and LG Chem, have narrowed their revenue gap with global No. 1 companies over the past five years, data showed Wednesday. Local corporate tracker CEOScore surveyed revenues of the world’s No. 1 companies and No. 1 firms in Korea in their respective fields from 2014 to 2019. The results showed that Korean companies narrowed the sales gap with the global No. 1 companies compared to five years ago in seven industries: including chemicals, pharmace

Industry Aug. 5, 2020

The new chief of the European Chamber of Commerce in South Korea believes there are many opportunities for Korean and European companies to cooperate in sustainability areas in the future. “In Europe, sustainability, particularly environment, has been a strong focus for many years and there are many technologies developed related to clean energy. I can see many opportunities for cooperation between European and Korean companies in the areas,” said Dirk Lukat, a new chairperson of

Industry Aug. 5, 2020

Hyundai Motor’s sales in the US market rose slightly over a period of five months, after struggling from the pandemic. Hyundai Motor America said Tuesday it reported total sales of 57,677 units last month in the region, a 1 percent increase from a year ago. Sales grew 4 percent, marking the third consecutive month of increase. Sport utility vehicles pulled up the performance, representing 67 percent of the total retail mix and growing by 16 percent on-year. Flagship SUV Palisade sales

Mobility Aug. 4, 2020

South Korean shipbuilders have won orders one after another in recent months after suffering from a dismal performance in the first half of this year. Expectations are growing that they will continue to win more liquefied natural gas carrier orders in the latter half despite the pandemic. Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, the shipbuilding holding unit of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, said Tuesday it had won orders worth more than 1 trillion won ($837 million) in a week. KSOE

Mobility Aug. 4, 2020