Toyota Korea has rolled out the Prius C hybrid compact car, boasting 19.4 kilometers per hour fuel economy and an affordable price tag of 24.9 million won ($23,400), with aims to bolster its hybrid vehicle portfolio, the company said Wednesday.Marking the last model of Toyota’s Prius hybrid car lineup, the Prius C was first introduced in Japan in 2011, followed by the US and other countries.Reaping popularity worldwide, the Prius C hybrid is the Japanese automaker’s second best-selling hybrid mo

Will ex-head of GM’s Latin America operations save Korean unit?

Amid a debacle over its plant shutdown, GM Korea applied Monday to Incheon Metropolitan City and South Gyeongsang Province for a designation of its remaining three plants as foreign investment zones for tax benefits.During his fourth visit to Korea last week, GM International President Barry Engle met with Lee Dong-gull, head of the state-run Korea Development Bank, and related officials. He said the automaker would submit requests for factory sites in Bupyeong, Incheon and Changwon, South Gyeon

Audi Volkswagen Korea, the local distributor of the two German brands, has received a temporary permit from the Seoul government to test drive its level 3 automation here, marking the first among import carmakers, the company said Thursday.Equipped with self-driving systems, the Audi A8 will run on local roads and K-City, Korea‘s test bed for automated vehicles in Gyeonggi Province, collecting data on traffic conditions here, while developing its level 3 conditionally automated driving technolog

Lee rejects GM’s request to cover part of debts, saying it’s none of KDB’s business

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automaker, on Tuesday denied suspicions that its factory in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, had leaked cutting oil into a nearby lake, the company said.“We are assuming that oil on roads was carried away in the rain. The related team is working to find out details,” Hyundai Motor said.Fishermen in the region and Asan city have called for Hyundai to apologize and take action for the leakage that has caused fishes to die and become deformed. “Component analys

GM Korea is to face an aggravating financial situation over the next two months, amid escalating protest from its labor union and a tug-of-war between its headquarters and the local government. 　The company must come up with ways to pay a combined 2.3 trillion won ($213 million) for voluntary resignations and loans.　The maturity date for the 700 billion won GM Korea borrowed from its headquarters expires later this month. 　The automaker’s board members agreed last month to postpone the loan’s du

In response to the state-run Korea Development Bank’s decision to sell the struggling Kumho Tire to Chinese tiremaker Double Star, the labor union of Kumho Tire will stage a partial strike this week followed by a general strike next week, the union said Monday.Kumho Tire’s Gwangju and Gokseong plants in South Jeolla Province had stopped production Saturday due to partial strikes staged by the union, the company said.Last week’s partial strikes came after the Korea Development Bank, the main cred

The labor union of GM Korea will hold multiple strikes this week with no end in sight for the US automaker’s plant closedown debacle. According to the labor union‘s website on Monday, the members will be holding a press conference in front of Korea Development Bank’s head office in Yeouido, western Seoul at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, to be followed by requests for meetings with representatives of the bank, the National Tax Service and the National Assembly.They will concurrently stage a one-man rally i

Sales of vehicles made at GM Korea's plant in the southern city of Changwon have plunged 40 percent over the last four years, industry data showed Monday, casting doubt on its future viability.GM Korea's Changwon plant produces the Spark city car, and Damas and Labo small commercial vehicles. It is one of GM Korea's three plants in South Korea. The two others are in Gunsan on the west coast and Bupyeong south of Seoul.According to the data, domestic sales and exports of the three models came to

YANGPYEONG, Gyeonggi Province – For drivers looking to purchase a new car, fuel economy is a crucial factor to consider, and Kia Motors has rolled out a compact sedan that boasts top level efficiency. Kia Motors’ fully revamped second-generation K3 compact sedan is back in the market in six years as an “upscale dynamic sedan,” the company said.After the four-hour test drive from Mayfield Hotel in western Seoul to Yangpyeong rest area in Gyeonggi Province, which expressways made up over 90 percen

As GM Korea continues looking for ways to tighten its belt to restructure the struggling company, some 2,500 employees have signed up for voluntary redundancy. But the automaker has to take more measures, such as reducing labor expenses and lowering the cost-to-sales ratio, to complete a turnaround, industry experts said Sunday.From the voluntary redundancies applications made as of Friday, GM Korea is expected to save up to 400 billion won ($370 million) in labor and overhead costs.Given that t

Unionized workers of Kumho Tire Co., the country's second-largest tiremaker, said Saturday they will do whatever it takes to block its creditors' plan to sell the embattled company to a foreign company.On Friday, Kumho Tire's creditors, including the state-run Korea Development Bank, announced they will plan to sell the financially troubled company to Qingdao Doublestar Co."We will do whoever it takes to block the push for the overseas sale," union representatives told reporters at a plant in Gw

GM Korea suffered a record operating loss of 800 billion won ($736 million) last year, further aggravating its high number of debts largely due to a strategy shift by its head office, according to provisional data submitted by the carmaker.The local unit of the US carmaker suggested the estimated figures to the government while asking for cash last month. Data showed that the company posted annual losses for four straight years. In 2014, GM Korea saw 148.6 billion won in operating loss, followed

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s leading automobile manufacturer, has launched a new division for high performance cars and motorsports, and appointed a former BMW M executive as vice chief, the company said Thursday.The new division will focus on expanding Hyundai’s presence in the global performance car arena by adding new performance models and releasing Veloster N, a high performance version of its hatchback, this year, the company said. Hyundai’s performance car lineup i30 N (Hyundai Motor)Thom