SsangYong Motor has established a new sales network for the Middle East as part of its reinforcement of overseas operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm said Tuesday. It will open a store in Baghdad, Iraq, within the month, after opening a showroom in Kuwait on Aug. 10. The company explained the decision is part of its efforts to prepare for the post-pandemic market. “As the economic slowdown due to COVID-19 prolongs, we are reassessing the overall sales environment and strength

Kumho Tire has retained its No. 1 spot in domestic sales by supplying tires for new small sport utility vehicles, the tire maker said Tuesday. Currently, small SUVs have been steadily gaining popularity in South Korea’s auto market with their reasonable price and good performance. Kumho Tire said it has recently supplied new tires to the majority of the popular compact SUVs, including Renault Samsung XM3 and Kia Motors Seltos. Kia Seltos’ 16- and 17-inch wheels and Renault Sam

Top-selling EV maker corrects sales terms that negates damage responsibility to consumers

Hyundai Motor’s premium brand Genesis surpassed Mercedes-Benz in sales for the first time in four years in the local market, industry data showed Monday. According to the auto industry, Genesis sold 60,005 vehicles in the January-July period this year, while Mercedes-Benz and BMW sold 41,583 and 29,246, respectively. Sales of Genesis jumped 65 percent compared to the same period last year. Mercedes-Benz, on the other hand, increased 3 percent and BMW rose by 35 percent. In 2016, the

Low cost carrier Jin Air posted an operating loss of 59.6 billion ($50.3 million) won during the second quarter, nearly doubling the loss it suffered the same time last year, according to its regulatory filing on Friday. The quarterly revenue stood at 23.2 billion won, down 89 percent from a year ago. Its net loss for the second quarter was 59 billion won. The low-cost subsidiary of Korean Air said its business suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic despite its efforts to increase domestic

Hyundai Motor said Friday its electric compact sports utility vehicle Kona Electric succeeded in driving over 1,000 kilometers on a single battery charge, setting a new range record for electric vehicles. The auto maker said it had conducted a test run of three Kona Electric vehicles, the company‘s pure electric car brand, at EuroSpeedway Lausitzring, a racing circuit located in northeast Germany from July 22 to 24. Each of the three vehicles went 1,026 kilometers, 1,024.1 km and 1,01

Hyundai Rotem, a train-making subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, said on Friday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ulsan Metropolitan City to build a hydrogen fuel cell tram for a demonstration project. The project will see the company roll out a hydrogen-powered tram and build a fueling station and a railway depot for a railway spanning 4.6 kilometers connecting Taehwagang Station and Ulsanhang Station in Ulsan – a line that has been left abandoned. Ulsan city will pr

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines post Q2 earnings surprise

Hyundai Glovis said Thursday it has partnered with Incheon International Airport Corp. to establish a smart parking system. The South Korean logistics firm has signed an agreement with the IIAC to establish a test bed for smart parking. The signing ceremony was attended by CEO Kim Jung-hoon and IIAC President Koo Bon-hwan. Under the agreement, the company plans to carry out smart parking system projects in three stages, including technical verification of parking robots, pilot operation of

SsangYong Motor is facing increased pressure to find new investors as it struggles to stay financially afloat as one of its local creditors withdrew their loans. Industry sources said KB Kookmin Bank has recently recovered all loans from SsangYong Motor, the balance of which stood at 8.75 billion won ($7.39 million) as of the end of the first quarter. The move puts the automaker under more pressure to repay other borrowings in time, with 389.9 billion won worth of loans coming due over the ne

GM Korea said Thursday its Chevrolet Trailblazer has been awarded the annual Wards 10 Best UX list by US automotive analysis provider WardsAuto. WardsAuto has been selecting 10 best user experience vehicles since 2016 by assessing the user-friendly technology such as touchscreens, smartphone pairing, voice-control navigation, head-up displays and the effectiveness of driver-assistance technologies such as adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring. A total of 18 models with new or hi

Motional aims to make driverless vehicles ‘safe, reliable and accessible reality’

Fiat Chrysler Korea announced Wednesday that it has appointed Jake Aumann as its new president and managing director. Aumann served as managing director of the automaker’s China branch for the past two years, successfully leading Alfa Romeo, a subsidiary auto brand, the company said. The new president will start his duties Monday. Since joining FCA Group in 1999, Aumann gained work experience in various sectors in the company, including administration, change management, marketing, sal

  GEOJE, South Gyeongsang Province -- HMM St. Petersburg is the world’s largest container ship, capable of carrying 24,000, 20-foot container boxes at once. The vessel is about 400 meters long, 61 meters wide and 33.2 meters high, and the deck is about 400 meters. HMM St. Petersburg is the last 24,000 TEU, or twenty-foot equivalent units, vessel of 12 super-large ships built as part of South Korea’s five-year plan to rebuild the country’s shipping industry. Sev

HDC Hyundai Development Co. which was poised to acquire Asiana Airlines said Tuesday it will hold talks with the majority shareholder Kumho Industrial to revive the stalled deal. Negotiations between both sides may effectively go on after the Wednesday deadline. A Kumho Industrial official confirmed that the deadline is no longer binding as the deal hinges on the planned talks between working-level staff at both companies. Another official at HDC said that the “details have yet to be de