South Korean carmakers are forecast to notch their highest combined sales figures in 18 years, according to industry data released Sunday. The country’s five finished automobile manufacturers sold a total of 1.47 million vehicles in Korea between January and November this year. The figure was up 6.2 percent from the same period last year. If the trend continues, total sales will surpass 1.6 million vehicles at the end of the year. This would mark the highest total since 2002. The com

Korean Air Lines Co. said Monday it will begin charging additional fees on emergency exit row seats when booking international flights next year. South Korea's biggest carrier said on its website that optional fees will be charged on exit row seats with extra legroom, which are located in the front row of each section of the economy class, starting Jan. 14. Emergency exit row seats will be limited to passengers that satisfy the official safety requirements, and those who book the seats will b

Benz offers both gasoline, diesel models with improved driving assistance feature

Renault Samsung Motors said Thursday its sports utility vehicle QM6 has climbed the sales chart to lead company’s performance this year. According to the automaker, the QM6 model sold 4,323 units in October, up 35.6 percent from the month before. The gasoline model, QM6 GDe, which has topped the mid-sized SUV market in South Korea for the second half of this year, takes 50.7 percent of the total sales of QM6, with 2,191 units, the automaker said. The rest is taken by QM6 LPe, which is

Korean Air’s president has said there would be no layoffs as a result of its takeover of Asiana Airlines. Woo Kee-hong, the airline’s president, said during a press briefing on Wednesday that most staff at both airlines would stay despite the takeover as Korean Air had “no plans to reduce supply.” His remarks come one day after a court ruling cleared the first legal hurdle for the acquisition. The share price of Asiana, which had been on the rise since the announcement

Automaker aims to sell over 1 million battery electric vehicles worldwide by 2025

Hyundai Motor Co. said Wednesday its vehicle sales in the United States fell 9 percent last month from a year earlier on lower demand amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyundai Motor sold 55,171 vehicles in the US in November, down from 60,601 units in the same period of last year, the company said in a statement. The monthly sales declined as "there were three fewer selling days and one less selling weekend" last month amid COVID-19 challenges, it said. "We've never had a better pr

Mercedes-Benz Korea said Tuesday it has officially launched new models for its revamped E-Class -- two Coupe models and a Cabriolet -- completing the lineup of its bestselling luxury sedan family. The automaker presented a four-seater coupe, the new Mercedes-Benz E 450 Coupe, and the high-performance AMG variant, the new Mercedes-AMG E 53 4Matic+ Coupe. Also launched was a four-seater open-top model, the new Mercedes-Benz E 450 4Matic Cabriolet. The launch of the new E-Class Coupe and E-Class

Injunction filed by KCGI turned down; acquisition to be completed by June, 2021

SsangYong Motor Co. said Tuesday its sales jumped 10 percent last month from a year earlier, helped by increased exports. SsangYong Motor sold 11,859 vehicles in November, up from 10,754 units a year ago due to strong overseas demand for its SUV models despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the company said in a statement. Domestic sales rose 0.3 percent to 9,270 units from 9,240 during the same period, and exports surged 71 percent to 2,589 from 1,514, it said. The SUV-focused carmaker said it wil

Volvo Cars Korea said Monday it delivered a donation of 300 million won ($271,000) to a nonprofit organization to support children with disabilities. Since 2017, Volvo Cars Korea has been working with Purme Foundation to support children with disabilities undergoing rehabilitation, the company said. The funds delivered will be used to provide assistive devices to 100 children and teenagers under 18, and for operation of a children’s rehabilitation hospital, the automaker said. &ldquo

SsangYong Motor said Monday it has gained government approval to test-run Level 3 self-driving technology for its Korando model, and will start test-driving the vehicle on regular roads next month. The autonomous vehicle of the company’s compact crossover sport utility vehicle Korando is the second model for the automaker to receive such approval, following the Tivoli Air, the company said. South Korea‘s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has introduced a permission s

Jin Air Co., the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Lines Co., said Monday it will resume flights to Fukuoka next month on eased entry restrictions in Japan. Jin Air will provide one flight a week on the Incheon-Fukuoka route from Tuesday mainly to meet business travel demand, the company said in a statement. The Fukuoka route was suspended nine months ago as more than 180 countries and territories strengthened entry restrictions to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jin Air currently

South Korea’s leading automaker and search engine platform have agreed to work together on tech services and seek partnerships with small firms. Hyundai Motor Group said Sunday that it agreed to work with Naver to cooperate in three business areas -- media and platform content, new mobility services and new business models -- and build relationships with small and midsized enterprises. Chi Young-cho, Hyundai Motor Group’s executive vice president for strategy and technology, and

South Korea's biggest carrier Korean Air Lines Co.'s planned acquisition of the debt-laden Asiana Airlines Inc. requires approval from antitrust authorities in at least four other countries, industry sources said Sunday. According to the aviation industry sources and the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the planned merger requires review from authorities in the United States, European Union (EU), China and Japan. A failure would jeopardize the deal valued at 1.8 trillion won ($1.6 billion) that w