Automaker’s shares soar upon Mahindra’s remarks on SsangYong‘s W1.3tr investment

South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked the head of an Indian conglomerate to reinstate former workers at SsangYong Motor who were sacked during the restructuring of the then ailing carmaker.President Moon Jae-in (second from left) talks Mahindra Chairman Anand Mahindra during a roundtable session for business leaders from South Korea and India. Next to the chairman is Pawan Goenka, managing director of Mahindra Group and the chairman of SsangYong board. (Yonhap)“The issue of reinstating dismis

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s No. 1 automotive company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese tech firm Baidu to boost cooperation on connectivity technology in a bid to ramp up demand from young Chinese drivers and its future mobility technology, the company said Tuesday. The signing follows shortly after Hyundai agreed to participate in Baidu’s self-driving project Apollo at the CES Asia 2018 in June. This time, the two agreed to “take their partnership to another level” by maki

The popular Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle, GM Korea’s second model to be introduced here since the business normalization of the local unit, was unveiled at the Busan Motor Show last month, with the task of recovering the automaker’s local sales.The Equinox was met with mixed market reactions, with some customers here expressing dissatisfaction over the higher-than-expected price tag of the midsize SUV, to which GM Korea Vice President Dale Sullivan replied, “I challenge you and everyo

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s No. 1 automotive company, is tapping into Australia’s car sharing market by developing a mobile app to replace car keys, together with Australian peer-to-peer car rental company Car Next Door, it said Wednesday.Hyundai and Car Next Door will roll out a mobile app dubbed “Hyundai Auto Link” that works as a car key and turns the engine on and off, by 2020 at the earliest, the company said.The app will enhance convenience for users of the P2P car rental service, allowin

Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, South Korea’s two leading automotive firms, are expected to record a drop in second-quarter earnings this year due to slowing demand in China and the US on top of uncertainties surrounding a global trade war, industry data showed Tuesday.According to data compiled by market researcher FN Guide, Hyundai Motor’s operating profit for the second quarter is projected to slide 22.3 percent on-year to 1.04 trillion won ($928 million), while its earnings will drop 0.6 perce

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, has become the first carmaker here to receive a temporary permit to test truck platooning, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Tuesday.Through the latest test drives, Hyundai is seeking to develop autonomous logistics delivery trucks. Hyundai Motor's self-driving truck (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)Hyundai’s self-driving trucks will mostly run on local highways bound for the Incheon port, such as Youngdong high

South Korean auto giant Hyundai Motor has invested in Autotalks, an Israeli chip company that makes vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems for self-driving cars. The exact size of the investment was not disclosed. Under the investment deal, the carmaker has agreed to collaborate with Autotalks for the development of a chipset that works like a human brain for connected cars.The chipset is a crucial part in self-driving technology for vehicles set to be equipped with a computerized system that

Just months after the US surprised trading partners with steel and aluminum tariffs, US President Donald Trump over the weekend reaffirmed his push to slap a 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Trump‘s latest push to implement higher tariffs of 25 percent from the current 2.5 percent has ignited a trade war, intensifying opposition and woes from the global auto industry. Export-dependent South Korean automakers and government officials have approa

LUXEMBOURG -- Mercedes-Benz’s No.1 best-selling model worldwide, the new C-Class is back with a revamped design, engine and safety systems, three years after the release of the fifth generation. Out of nearly 12,000 components that make up the car, some 6,500 parts have been replaced, making the latest face-lift the most extensive for the C-Class so far, amid increasing competition with rivals in BMW’s 3-Series, Audi S4 and Volvo S60. Mercedes-AMG C 43 coupe (Mercedes-Benz Korea)Members of the m

LUXEMBOURG -- Introduced to South Korean drivers in 2003 with the setup of Mercedes-Benz Korea, the German luxury carmaker’s C-Class lineup has since become one of Korea’s most preferred import cars.The first C-Class introduced here was the 203 series equipped with the carmaker’s then-most innovative technology, the Sequentronic automated six-speed transmission.The roots of the globally popular lineup dates back to 1982 when the 190 model was launched as the first of the 201 series, categorized

Saean Motors, a South Korean electric micro carmaker, is in the final stages of entering the Malaysian market as part of its efforts to diversify its business worldwide.A group of working-level officials from Malaysia’s automaker Go Auto are scheduled to visit Korea next month to examine Saean’s office and research centers here, and clinch a final agreement. 　It signed a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysia Automotive Institute, an agency under the Ministry of International Trade and In

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s No. 1 automotive company by sales, has signed a strategic partnership with Finnish energy firm Wartsila to tap into the energy storage systems market by utilizing used electric vehicle batteries, the company said Tuesday. The move is aimed at securing future growth, while dealing with environmental concerns over used electric vehicle batteries. Hyundai said it is expected to start development of ESS products for industrial use in 2021. “Much spotlight has been put on

The South Korean government and businesses agreed to invest some 2.6 trillion won ($2.33 billion) over the next five years to speed up the country’s hydrogen gas-powered vehicle industrial ecosystem, the Trade Ministry said Monday.Aiming to gain an upper hand in the prospective global fuel cell vehicle market, the 2.6 trillion won will be spent on building plants for fuel cell vehicles and fuel cell stacks, manufacturing fuel cell buses and developing fuel cell storage containers.In doing so, th

Key to retaining popularity in the fast-changing South Korean market is introducing customized editions, according to SsangYong Motor, the South Korean unit of Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra.Competing in the compact sport utility vehicle segment, the carmaker’s top-selling Tivoli SUV launched in January 2015 is credited for igniting demand for compact SUVs here.In the first year of its launch, 45,021 Tivoli SUVs were sold and stood for more than half of 82,308 compact SUVs sold here in the