Renault Samsung Motors, the local unit of French carmaker Renault S.A., has launched the Clio hatchback with an aim to start a new boom in the local compact car market, the company said Sunday.Clio is Renault’s best-selling car with about 14 million units sold worldwide since its release in 1990. Due to a lack of demand for hatchbacks here, where sedans and sport utility vehicles are highly preferred, Clio was introduced to Korean drivers last week. Renault Samsung Motors’ hatchback Clio (Renaul

The crown prince of Hyundai Motor Group, the nation’s second-largest conglomerate, is in New York in an apparent move to convince foreign shareholders over the group’s corporate governance reform seeking a change of the hostile atmosphere against the plan.Hyundai Motor officials in Seoul confirmed on Friday that Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun has left for a business trip to US. He was briefed over progresses made at Hyundai Cradle in Silicon Valley, a multinational startup incubator, the company sa

Posco, South Korea’s No.1 steelmaker, took home two awards at this year’s S&P Global Platts Metals Awards for the first time among local steel companies, the company said Friday. Posco was named the winner in steel industry leadership, and received the grand Metal Company of the Year award at the ceremony held in London, attended by about 250 officials, the company said.S&P Global Platts, energy and commodities information provider, has been hosting the annual awards from 2013, recognizing compa

What with boisterous opposition from activist hedge fund Elliott, Hyundai Motor Group’s corporate restructuring scheme is dominating the attention of investors and business insiders.The accusation from Elliott and several other critics of Korea’s second-largest conglomerate is that Hyundai has devised a plan solely in the interest of the owner family, while the group argues that it is aimed to elevate the value of the company, and therefore the interests of the shareholders.So far, four proxy ad

Mobis considers M&As, technical cooperation with global firms for LiDAR, camera sensors

Ending controversies in the course of its acquisition by a Chinese company, South Korean tiremaker Kumho Tire on Wednesday launched a new product for the first time in eight years. The nation’s second-largest tiremaker unveiled a premium comfort tire named the Majesty9 SOLUS TA91 at a launching ceremony attended by more than 350 dealers.  Kumho Tire Chairman Kim Jong-ho poses next to Majesty9 SOLUS TA91, a premium tire launched Wednesday in Seoul.(Kumho Tire)The product is the latest in its prem

State fund faces critical choice on automaker’s spinoff plan; Hyundai refutes some proxy advisers’ opposition as misunderstanding market regulations

GM Korea will give away 100 units of the Chevrolet Spark compact car to 100 winners of a promotional event until August in efforts to put the company back on track, the company said Tuesday.　The first winner of the “Chevy’s new start, with customers” event was Park Jae-seok, 31, who had been considering to purchase Spark for his wife on safety and design.GM Executive Vice President Barry Engle, GM Korea CEO Kaher Kazem, GM Korea Vice President Dale Sullivan, and chief of GM Korea’s union Lim Han

It is a crucial week ahead for Hyundai Motor Group seeking to streamline its complex corporate shareholding structure through a spin-off and merger deal that is subject to a vote at May 29 meeting of shareholders.Proxy advisory firms including Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. and the Korea Corporate Governance Service are expected to make their recommendations this week, in light of the latest move by hedge fund Elliott Advisors to oppose Hyundai‘s plans. By regulation here, a spin-off a

Police are investigating whether a Tesla sedan's semi-autonomous Autopilot feature was engaged when it rear-ended a fire department truck in Utah. The Tesla Model S crashed into the truck at 60 mph (97 kph) apparently without braking before impact, according to police in South Jordan, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The fire department mechanic truck had been stopped at a red light.The crash comes as federal safety agencies investigate the performance of Tesla's semi-autonomous driving system. The T

BUPYEONG, Incheon -- GM Korea was forced to cancel a press conference on Monday after a group of 12 non-regular workers unexpectedly forced themselves into the conference room through the back door demanding a change in their status to regular workers.“On the day GM shut down the Gunsan plant, the Incheon District Court made a ruling (in the first trial) recognizing non-regular workers‘ status as regular workers. However we were excluded from negotiations (with the company),” Hwang Ho-in, head o

Hyundai says Elliott‘s demand of adopting holding company structure ‘unacceptable’

German carmaker BMW said Thursday that it had opened a large-scale cultural complex on a 13,200-square-meter site in Songdo International City in Incheon, South Korea.　The cultural complex was built through a joint investment by BMW and Bavarian Motors, Bavarian Motors, a Korean dealer of BMW and its Mini Brand. The construction project took 1 1/2 years. It is the largest integrated facility opened by a BMW dealer worldwide. From left: Lee In-seok, chief executive officer of Bavarian Motors , Hi

AMG chief says development of high power battery is on the way without revealing possible partner