South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. took over half of the fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) market in the first eight months of the year, led by strong demand for its SUV model, industry data showed Wednesday. Hyundai Motor, the maker of the NEXO SUV, sold about 5,900 units in the January-August period, up 34.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from SNE Research. Hyundai accounted for 52.2 percent of the global FCEV sales over the cited period, far surpassing its Japanese

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) front camera co-developed with Daimler AG will be used in Mercedes-Benz C-Class vehicles. An ADAS front camera, usually tucked between the windshield and the rearview mirror, is considered the "eye" of a smart vehicle as it collects various traffic information. LG said its camera, powered by algorithms developed by its vehicle components solutions (VS) business unit, can provide various features, inclu

LS Cable & System, South Korea's top wire and cable maker, said Wednesday it expects to win a 200 billion-won ($168 million) cable supply deal from Taiwan. LS Cable said it has been picked as the preferred bidder for the deal, and if the deal is signed, it will supply cables to a wind farm in Taiwan run by CSBC-DEME Wind Engineering by 2025. The wind farm, located in waters 50 kilometers off the west coast of Taiwan, will be able to generate up to 1 gigawatt of electricity, according to LS

Around a quarter of South Korea's mobile subscriptions were on 5G networks in August, data showed Wednesday, as new smartphone launches boosted user growth in the latest generation networks. As of end-August, there were 17.8 million 5G network users, accounting for 24.8 percent of the country's total 71.9 million mobile network subscriptions, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT. South Korea has a population of 51 million, and some people have multiple mobile phones. The

Domestic sales of Samsung Electronics Co.'s new foldable smartphones -- the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3 -- have surpassed 1 million units, the company said Wednesday, as the tech giant strives to popularize the foldable category. The third generation of the Galaxy Z series topped the 1 million sales milestone Monday, which is just 39 days after its launch, according to Samsung.  It was the third fastest sales pace to exceed the 1 million sales mark in South Korea after the Gal

South Korean financial companies' overseas units saw their earnings jump more than 27 percent in the first half of the year despite the coronavirus pandemic, a corporate tracker said Wednesday. According to CEO Score, 222 overseas subsidiaries of major banks and other financial institutions posted a combined net income of 411.6 billion won ($347 million) in the January-June period. It was up 27.1 percent from a year earlier and 6.1 percent from the first half of 2019, about six months before t

Ordering food and receiving it inside your car without reaching for a wallet is the latest fad in the auto industry. Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors last year introduced “Car Pay” which allows drivers to pay for gas and parking by tapping on a touchpad in their vehicles. It became a popular form of contactless payment as the pandemic drew on. Renault Samsung Motors unveiled an in-car payment system that can do more in its new XM3 SUV which hit showrooms in June. Passengers can order

South Korean total energy company GS Caltex said Tuesday it has teamed up with home furnishing retail company Ikea Korea to launch a pickup service at one of its gas stations in Seoul’s Gangnam district, with plans to expand it across the country later this year. The move will cut the delivery fees to 19,000 won. Ikea delivery fees are relatively high because of the size and weight of the furniture products it sells. The new move comes as the number of online shoppers who use

South Korean instant noodle maker Samyang Foods is opening a branch in China, on the back of the worldwide popularity of its extremely spicy Buldak Ramen. The company said Tuesday the new office will launch in Shanghai in December, following the foundation of Samyang America in August. The China branch will focus on marketing and distribution of its products on the mainland, it said. China and the United States are key markets for the company, according to Samyang Foods, accounting for 45 p

Online shopping in South Korea jumped 16.8 percent on-year in August to 15.8 trillion won ($13.3 billion), the highest transaction amount ever recorded for the month since records began in 2001, data showed Tuesday. According to data from Statistics Korea, food delivery orders set a new record high of 2.4 trillion won, rising from the previous month when the figure stood at around 2.3 trillion won. Statistics Korea said the COVID-19 pandemic and this year’s Tokyo Olympics contributed to

International sales of Nongshim’s spicy Shin Ramyun surpassed local sales for the first time in the third quarter of this year, the South Korean foodmaker said Monday. Sales generated outside of South Korea accounted for 53.6 percent of the product‘s 690 billion won ($600 million) total sales in the first three quarters of the year. This is the first time that more Shin Ramyun was sold overseas since the product’s launch 35 years ago. Should the trend continue, Nongshim exp

Despite recent releases from Samsung Electronics and Apple featuring the most advanced technologies so far, the global smartphone market is forecast to grow slowly as phone vendors struggle to secure components, including semiconductors, amid ongoing shortages worldwide. According to a recent report from market researcher Counterpoint Research, the total shipment volume of smartphones for 2021 is expected to grow 6 percent to 1.41 billion units. The growth forecast was lowered from the resea

Unionized workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) on Tuesday called for the withdrawal of the shipbuilder's sale to its local rival Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. (HHIH). In a press conference held at Geoje City Hall, about 400 kilometers south of Seoul, the workers said the government should withdraw the sale of DSME as the deal fell apart for the fourth time. In March 2019, HHIH, the holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group, signed the deal with the s

Kim Beom-su, the founder of South Korean internet giant Kakao Corp., apologized Tuesday over the controversy surrounding the company's rapid expansion in recent years, which some criticize has driven small businesses into a corner. Kakao has faced growing scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators in recent months over the far-reaching influence of its online platform that has been accused of taking business away from mom-and-pop stores. "I am sorry for having caused the controversy," Kim

Local companies have little incentive to migrate to clean energy for their electricity needs, as power prices charged by renewable energy producers and suppliers are still higher than the cost of offsetting carbon emissions. According to Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy data obtained by Rep. Hong Jung-min of the ruling Democratic Party, purchasing electricity generated by renewables is about 50 percent more expensive than offsetting greenhouse gas emissions through buying carbon credit