Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest carmaker by sales, is in talks with Softbank Group Corp. to acquire a US-based robotics company for $1 billion, news reports said Tuesday, as it increases investments in future mobility solutions. Hyundai Motor is mulling acquiring a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics, and the terms of the deal have yet to be finalized, according to reports. The maker of the Sonata sedan and the Palisade SUV declined to confirm the reports. "As a global busines

Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it will use US chipmaker Nvidia's in-vehicle Drive system across all of its vehicles from 2022. The South Korean carmaker will apply the Nvidia Drive "connected car" platform to all of its upcoming models from Hyundai Motor Co., its independent Genesis brand, and Kia Motors Corp. starting from 2022, the company said in a statement. Under the partnership, the group's next-generation vehicles will feature

  　Celltrion set a quarterly earnings record in the third quarter of 2020, the company’s regulatory filing showed Monday. 　The No. 1 South Korean biosimilars maker posted a revenue of 548.8 billion won ($492.6 million) and an operating profit of 245.3 billion won, up 89.9 percent and 137.8 percent, respectively. 　The pharma credited its buoyant performance to increasingly reliable distribution of its biosimilar products, which are expanding their presence in global markets. 　Cell

Hyundai, Hanwha, LG Chem, Celltrion, Samsung Biologics expected to boost business in US

Shares in South Korean shippers and shipbuilders rallied on Monday on expectations that strong freight rates may work to improve their earnings and trigger more ship demand, analysts said. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, a barometer of global freight rates, came to a new high of 1,664.56 last Friday, according to industry sources. The previous record was 1,583.18 posted in July 2010. "Today's sharp advances in shippers and shipbuilders don't mean they will continue to turn for

Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), South Korea's sole aircraft manufacturer, said Monday its third-quarter net profit plunged 66 percent from a year earlier on delayed parts delivery to customers. Net profit for the three months ending in September fell to 12.4 billion won ($11 million) from 36.6 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a statement. "Delayed delivery of aircraft body and wing parts to customers, such as Airbus and Boeing, had an impact on the quarterly results

Samsung Electronics Co. sold the largest number of smartphones in the United States in the third quarter of the year, beating its rival Apple Inc. for the first time in three years, a report showed Monday. Samsung accounted for 33.7 percent in the US smartphone market in the July-September period, up 6.7 percentage points from a year earlier, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. Apple was the runner-up with a 30.2 percent share, followed by South Korean smartphone maker LG Elect

E-commerce giant Coupang has recently opened a counseling center for its female delivery staff members as part of efforts to create a healthy work environment, the company said. The center will conduct various activities designed to resolve obstacles at work and provide consultation which can be scheduled by phone or on its website. For those who find an in-person visit difficult, phone or text consultations are also available. As of November, Coupang had about 400 female delivery staffs and t

Samsung Electronics said Monday that its microbiology laboratory unit Eco-Life Lab has been certified by international product testing institute TUV Rheinland for finding new ways to analyze microbial activities in electronic products. Samsung Electronics has recently obtained two different certifications from∙the International Organization for Standardization: ISO 22196 for developing a measurement of antibacterial activity on plastics and other non-porous surfaces and ISO 846 for finding a w

The global pandemic has changed nearly everything for chief marketing officers, forcing them to scramble as consumers shift even more to online shopping. Meanwhile, CEOs are pressuring their marketing chiefs to find strategies for recovery. Deeper understanding of customers enables organizations to successfully pivot new business models by recalibrating sales approaches, finding new revenue streams, and introducing new products and services. Technology plays a role, of course, but it has to b

SK Telecom, South Korea‘s top mobile carrier, said on Monday it is ramping up its services for foreign language customers under the slogan “Like a Local” in an effort to help break language barriers in an increasingly multicultural era. In an industry first, the company said it will offer an English language service for its mobile app where users can check their data usage, get discounts and pay mobile bills upfront. The telecoms network will also offer customer service in mu

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering Co. said Monday that it has signed a 200 billion won ($179 million) deal with a European shipping firm to build two very large crude-oil carriers (VLCCs). The 300,000-ton vessels to be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., a unit of Korea Shipbuilding, will be delivered from June 2022, the company said in an e-mailed statement. So far this year, Korea Shipbuilding has won orders to build 11 VLCCs, accounting for 55 percent of the global VLCC marke

The global sales of eco-friendly vehicles increased by 14.4 percent to nearly 5.28 million units last year compared to a year prior, according to a recent report from Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. Toyota ranked No.1 in sales by selling 1.98 million units, a 17.9 percent jump in the same period. Toyota was followed by Tesla, which sold 460,000 units, witnessing a whopping 80.3 percent spike on-year. Honda ranked third with 390,000 units, a 27.4 percent jump. Meanwhile, Hyundai M

Hyundai Rotem Co., a South Korean railway system and plant equipment maker, said Monday it has received a $76 billion order to supply conveyer systems to Ford Motor Co.'s plants by 2022. Hyundai Rotem will provide the conveyer systems to the US carmaker's plants in Argentina, South Africa and Thailand in the next two years, the company said in a statement. Hyundai Rotem has received orders for an accumulated 280 billion won ($250 million) worth of production facilities for Ford's assembly li

US President-elect Joe Biden’s multilateral approach to trade could work in export-reliant South Korea’s favor. But the next administration’s eco-friendly policies and a new approach to dealing with China could weigh on Asia’s fourth-largest economy, according to local sources Sunday. 　 The Bank of Korea said global trade sentiment is expected to recover when President-elect Biden moves to woo US allies battered by Donald Trump’s trade sanctions and work with them