Cash-strapped automaker‘s search for new owner casts question mark over business plan

Unionized workers at Kia, South Korea's second-biggest carmaker, voted Friday to accept the company's wage proposals without a strike for the first time in a decade. Kia said 68 percent of 26,945 workers voted in favor of wage offers that include an increase of 75,000 won ($64.30) in monthly basic pay, two months of wages in performance-based pay and cash bonuses worth 5.8 million won. More than 1,600 out of the 28,604-member union abstained. But Kia rejected the union's demand to extend the

Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Foundation has revamped its scholarship program to foster 1,100 talents in the next five years, the foundation said Wednesday. Renamed Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-koo Scholarship, the scholarships will support talented people in five different categories: global, future industry, international cooperation, social innovation, and art and culture. The foundation seeks to provide the recipients not only with financial support, but with education opportunities to groom t

Han Sung Motor has donated 20 million won ($17,028) earned from running Dream Gream online merch store and more to 10 youth shelters around the country, the official Mercedes-Benz dealer said Monday. The auto dealership opened the online store offering merchandise made by students participating in its Dream Gream art scholarship program in June. As part of its social outreach efforts, Han Sung Motor has been supporting middle and high school students with artistic talents through the progra

Unionized longshore workers at South Korea’s largest shipper, HMM, began voting Sunday on whether to go on strike after three rounds of wage negotiations failed. Should they vote in favor of the collection action, it will mark the first strike at the shipper since its establishment in 1796. The longshore workers’ union has around 450 members. Results are scheduled to come out Monday afternoon. The motion is likely to pass, according to local media reports, as the labor union an

American automaker General Motors said it will expand the recall of Chevy Bolt electric vehicles equipped with South Korean supplier LG's batteries over fire risks, which is expected to additionally cost about US$1 billion. The latest recall covers 73,000 Bolt EVs and EUVs from model years 2019 through 2022 sold in the United States and Canada to replace the defective battery modules. It is on top of about 69,000 Bolt EVs from 2017-2019 model years included in the previous recall in July over

The number of daily passengers at Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, rose to the highest point this year in early August as more people traveled during the summer holiday season amid the vaccination drive, data showed Saturday. An average of 10,987 passengers used the Incheon airport a day from Aug. 1-19, up 47 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the data by the Incheon International Airport Corp. On Aug. 13, two days ahead of Liberation Day, 15,55

Korean Air plans to replace its A380-800 and B747-8I aircraft with smaller planes to increase efficiency, the carrier’s chief executive officer said Thursday. Cho Won-tae, the chairman of Hanjin Group and Korean Air CEO, said he has confirmed the plan to ditch the Airbus A380-800 in the next five years and Boeing’s 747-8I over the next 10 years in an interview with FlightGlobal. Korean Air currently owns 10 units of both the A380-800 with 407 seats and the B747-8i with 368 seats.

Once discontinued, one of the oldest off-roaders returns with sturdiest chassis, futuristic appearance

Credit card company Samsung Card will divest all of its 19.9 percent stake in automaker Renault Samsung Motors, in a sale that would pull the plug on its parent Samsung Group’s old, botched auto dream. The company said the decision was made recently and has tapped Samsung Securities, Samsung Group’s financial investment arm, to lead the exit. “Though we are pursuing the stake sale, details such as the method of sale, the buyer and the process have yet to be decided,” t

Children from South Korea, the Canary Islands and China won Japanese automaker Toyota’s 14th Dream Car Art Contest. Lee Jae-yul, a 7-year-old from South Korea, won the award with a piece titled “Pollution Purifying Car.” The work depicts a time-traveling car that “travels to the past” and “absorbs the polluted air, turning it into fresh air for the future,” the company said. Se Eun Hong and Heng wei Xu from the Canary Islands and China, respectively,

Hyundai Motor’s two automotive affiliates, Hyundai Motor and Kia, started a car-hailing service for the elderly and the disabled in the United States, as part of its universal mobility project, the automaker said Wednesday. The South Korean automotive group said it has launched the service, dubbed EnableLA in Los Angeles, with wheelchair-compatible vehicles for passengers. Those who want to use the service can hire a car via a mobile app or calling, and a specially trained chauff

Korean Air, Asiana Airlines benefit from pandemic-fueled cargo boom

Kumho Tire is supplying two different types of tires that have been applied with noise-cutting technology for Kia’s electric vehicle EV6, the tire maker said Tuesday. For a quiet driving experience, Kumho Tire said it is providing its Crugen HP71 and Ecsta PS71 for the EV6. The two models have been applied with K-Silent technology, which the company developed in 2014. Kumho Tire said the technology has been patented in Korea and other countries. The K-Silent tires are made with porous

South Korea’s top shipping company HMM’s operating profit rose to a record high during the second quarter on the back of growing shipping costs and strong demand. The company racked up 1.38 trillion won in operating profit, a regulatory filing released on Friday revealed, up over 900 percent compared to the same time one year ago. The figure also surpasses its performance during the first quarter, which stood at 1.19 trillion won in operating profit. Revenue rose 111 percent to 2.