GM Korea Co. said Monday its sales retreated 25.4 percent last month from a year earlier on weak demand at home and abroad. The South Korean unit of General Motors Co. sold 21,455 vehicles in April, down from 28,749 units the previous year, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales dropped 18.4 percent on-year to 5,470 units, and exports sank 27.5 percent to 15,985 autos over the cited period, it said. The Detroit carmaker has three Korean plants -- two in Bupyeong and one in Changwon -

Kia Corp., South Korea's second-largest automaker, said Monday its sales soared 78 percent last month from a year earlier on a low base effect and solid demand for SUVs. Kia sold 249,734 vehicles in April, up from 140,262 units a year ago, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales reached 51,128 units last month, climbing 1.5 percent from a year earlier. Overseas sales vaulted 120.9 percent on-year to 198,606 units due to the low base effect from last year when the COVID-19 pandemic hit

Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday its sales more than doubled last month from a year earlier on robust demand for its SUV models despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's biggest carmaker sold 345,777 vehicles in April, up from 167,693 units a year earlier, helped by strong demand for the Palisade SUV, the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle, and the Genesis GV70 and GV80 SUVs, the company said in a statement. On top of robust SUV sales, the company benefited from a base effect, in which i

Renault Samsung Motors Corp. said Monday its sales fell 28.6 percent last month from a year earlier due to weak domestic demand. The South Korean unit of Renault S.A. sold 9,344 vehicles in April, down from 13,087 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales tumbled 50.4 percent on-year to 5,446 units last month, while exports jumped 87.2 percent to 3,878 units over the cited period, XM3 the company said. French automaker Renault holds an 81 percent stake in Renault S

SsangYong Motor Co. said Monday its sales fell 36 percent last month from a year earlier due mainly to lower demand at home amid the extended COVID-19 pandemic. SsangYong Motor sold 4,351 vehicles in April, down from 6,813 units a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Exports rose 30 percent to 1,033 units last month from 796 a year ago, but domestic sales declined 45 percent to 3,318 units from 6,017 during the cited period, it said. From January to April, sales also fell 26 percent

Lee Jae-young, vice chairman of global tech titan Samsung Electronics Co., has emerged as South Korea's richest stockholder following inheriting stocks from his late father, a corporate tracker said Monday. Lee's mother and his two sisters also ranked second to fourth, with Kim Beom-su, founder and chief of South Korea's top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp, dropping to fifth, according to CXO Institute. The value of Lee's stock holdings stood at 15.62 trillion won ($14 billion) as of Frid

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE) said Monday that it has signed a 209.9 billion won ($187.6 million) deal to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. Under the deal with a European company, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co, a unit of KSOE, will build and deliver the vessel by October 2023, KSOE said in a regulatory filing. The shipbuilder did not reveal the namer of the buyer. KSOE has three shipbuilding subsidiaries -- Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Hyundai Samho

Three South Korean electric vehicle (EV) battery makers accounted for 31 percent of the global market in the first quarter, but their share has slipped since last year in the face of toughening competition with Chinese rivals, a market research firm said Monday. The trio -- LG Energy Solution Ltd., Samsung SDI Co. and SK Innovation Co. -- supplied a combined 47.8 gigawatt-hour (GWh) equivalents of EV batteries in the January-March period, up 127 percent from a year earlier, according to the dat

South Korea's industrial output index hit a record high in the first quarter as Asia's fourth-largest economy is recovering from pandemic-driven slumps, supported by robust exports, data showed Monday. The index gauging industrial production came to 111.2 in the January-March period, up 1.7 percent from 109.3 three months earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The reading marked the highest since the first quarter of 2000, when the statistics agency began compiling related data.

Keen market attention is now focused on the future performance of LG Electronics Inc.'s home appliance and air solution (H&A) unit following its record earnings in the first quarter of the year, analysts said Monday. LG Electronics said Thursday the operating profit of its H&A division came to an all-time high of 919.9 billion won ($824 million) for the January-March period, up 22.1 percent from a year earlier. Sales of the electronics giant's flagship unit also soared 23.8 percent on-y

Lee Jae-yong, despite rising to helm of Samsung empire, faces continued imprisonment and another trial linked to succession

LG Chem is set to fill hundreds of positions in its advanced materials division as it prepares for an aggressive expansion into new business areas and markets, the company said Sunday. The company’s upcoming hiring period will be its most active since the division was established in 2019, it added. According to LG Chem, the company is seeking talent in all the business segments where it operates, from battery materials to postconsumer recycled plastics, organic light-emitting diodes a

LG U+ has set up a crane remote control system at Busan Port and aims to commercialize 5G network-based solutions for automated seaport infrastructure management, the company said Sunday. The yard cranes at Busan Port are controlled remotely by an operator in an office, using the control system developed by the South Korean telecommunications firm. The tall cranes, equipped with sensors and high-definition cameras, are designed to send live feeds to a control room via the 5G network. The so

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog will meet to weigh the penalties to impose on Samsung Group later this month over accusations that it has unfairly favored one of its subsidiaries for in-house cafeteria businesses. The Fair Trade Commission will hold a two-day meeting sometime around May 26 and hear opinions from major Samsung subsidiaries before finalizing the level of punishment, according to industry sources. Though the meeting often takes a day with all nine members present including

South Korean shipbuilders are leading the race for liquefied petroleum gas carriers as they have secured over 70 percent of shipbuilding orders this year so far, new data has revealed. According to shipping and offshore data researcher Clarksons Research on Sunday, a total of 44 LPG-fueled vessels totaling 1.06 million compensated gross tons have been ordered worldwide this year as of late last month. Among those, South Korean shipbuilders bagged orders that amount to 31 LPG tankers, or nearly