Carmakers are rushing to launch new models in the first half of the year -- mainly market-dominating sport utility vehicles -- seeking opportunities to recover sales, according to industry sources.Hyundai Motor’s first-ever Genesis SUV GV80 opens up this year’s new vehicle lineup. The automaker released images of the luxury SUV GV80 on New Year’s Day, raising market expectations for the model set to debut in mid-January.  The three-row SUV from Hyundai Motor’s l

An agile corporate culture and digital capability are key to overcoming economic uncertainties and adapting to new challenges, said Huh Tae-soo, the new chairman of GS Group, in his New Year’s address in Seoul on Thursday. Huh, who replaced his older brother Huh Chang-soo last month, was addressing 150 employees who gathered at his first face-to-face meeting.  In an ever-changing era of trade tensions and digitalization, Heo said that GS Group will focus on consumer needs, foster an a

South Korea's exports will likely rebound as early as February, analysts here said Thursday, citing a much-coveted global economic recovery and improving conditions in China.The country's outbound shipments have shown a turnaround since the fourth quarter of 2019, with the pace of decline slowing to 16 percent, 12.4 percent and 1.4 percent in October, November and December, respectively, according to data from the trade ministry.Overall, exports by Asia's fourth-largest economy fell 10.3 percent

Samsung Electronics on Thursday vowed to strengthen its compliance to related laws and regulations by forming a committee that will supervise its internal structure across subsidiaries.Former Supreme Court Justice Kim Ji-hyung -- who previously chaired a committee to settle a long-standing dispute over work environment and employee issues at the firm -- will lead the in-house committee. While Samsung has been operating an internal compliance system, it decided to reinforce its functions followin

More households in South Korea are buying processed food online, with about 80 percent of such families having bought food items at least once a month on average last year.According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Korea Rural Economic Institute, 16.4 percent of the households bought processed food from online platforms at least once a week, compared to 6.7 percent in 2018. Some 43.3 percent purchased at least once in two weeks, compared to 24.3 per

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Thursday its sales fell 8.5 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to a slump at home and abroad. GM Korea sold 38,818 vehicles in December, down from 42,424 units the previous year, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales plunged 15 percent to 8,820 units last month from 10,428 a year ago. Exports declined 6.2 percent to 29,998 from 31,996 over the cited period, it said. GM Korea launched the US-made Equinox SUV

Purchases made using the internet and mobile devices in South Korea hit an all-time high in November last year, data showed Thursday, thanks to the popularity of fast delivery and convenient payment options with local shoppers.The total value of transactions made with computers, smartphones and tablets reached 12.7 trillion won ($11 billion) in November last year, up 20.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.It was the first time that the monthly value of onli

Consumers tend to stick to regimens when making purchases. Once satisfied, they remain loyal to a certain product or service, although they might stray from time to time.Consumer loyalty is based on, or goes on to create, brand power, which is representative of the quality, credibility and reputation of the product and ultimately the company. Once a certain brand is continually preferred and consumed, the company seizes a dominant position in the market.Brand equity is the commercial value of co

South Korea's top two electronics giants -- Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc. -- are set to introduce TVs with new form factors at the world's biggest tech expo next week as they continue to up the ante to lead the global TV market, industry sources said Thursday. Samsung and LG will exhibit their future TV products at the annual four-day Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off on Tuesday in Las Vegas, Nevada, where more than 4,500 firms from around the globe will showcase their l

　Korea’s public investment in future industrial materials and nanotech will jump 136 percent on-year in 2020, as the country moves to enhance its global competitiveness in cutting edge sectors, the government said.　The sum of 233.6 billion won ($201.2 million), approved by policymakers and experts, follows the passage of this year’s budget by the National Assembly. The focus will be on acquiring original technologies, expanding research and development infrastructure and the creation

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics said Wednesday they will showcase their new editions of refrigerators equipped with enhanced artificial intelligence capabilities at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, slated to kick off next Tuesday in Las Vegas, US.It is not the first time that they are displaying their smart fridges at the show. But this year, backed by improvements in AI technologies, some upgrades and more convenient features will be highlighted.The most notable change that they h

KakaoTalk, Korea’s most widely used messaging app, had a server slowdown around midnight on New Year’s Eve, with some of its users unable to send out New Year’s greetings, according to the app’s operator on Wednesday.  The system error in the KakaoTalk server lasted for some two hours from around midnight. Upon identifying the problem, the company immediately took recovery action, it said. The server was fully restored at 2:15 a.m.During the year-end period, the mess

Apartment prices in Seoul showed the steepest rise in December since the government’s real estate policy announced on Sep.13, 2018, which led to rising prices in other cities nationwide. According to data by Korea Appraisal Board, apartment prices in Seoul soared 1.24 percent in December compared to the previous month. It marked the biggest on-month growth in 15 months since September 2018. Across the country, apartment prices rose 0.51 percent, showing the highest growth in four years.(kh

With 2020 marking the “Year of the White Mouse,” retailers rolled out mouse-inspired products, luring consumers with limited edition goods and special marketing in celebration of the new year. Based on the Chinese zodiac, the white mouse is the first of the 12 animals and considered the leader of the mice, symbolizing wealth, fortune and prosperity. Due to ambiguity in the Chinese characters, 2020 may also be referred to as the Year of the Metal Rat. According to Starbucks Korea, it

Amid forecasts of lower economic growth and harsher business conditions in 2020, South Korea’s business community is pushing to ease government regulations to stimulate aggressive investments and entrepreneurship, according to industry sources Wednesday.Heads of the country’s business lobby groups noted abandoning old regulations to seek new changes in 2020.The Federation of Korean Industries chief Huh Chang-soo said in his New Year’s address that future-oriented regulations ar