The Korean unit of General Motors Co. has asked the government to designate its factory sites as foreign investment zones that would make the automaker eligible for up to seven years of special benefits that can help with its turnaround plan, the commerce ministry here said Thursday.The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said GM Korea has submitted applications for factories in Bupyeong, west of Seoul, and in Changwon, on the nation's southeast. GM Korea made the request to the Korean govern

PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi Province-- Volvo Trucks Korea, the No. 1 commercial vehicle importer by sales, rolled out two models of the FE cargo series seeking to target customers searching for mid-to-large trucks as demand in the local logistics market continues to diversify, the company said Tuesday.The 9.5 ton 6x4 cargo designed to transport big volumes, and a smaller 5 ton 4x2 truck for delivering freight in the city are the first-ever semi-large size trucks introduced here.“We have launched the FE

At first sight, Mercedes-Benz’s new S560 seems to be too big and too old-fashioned. The long-bodied sedan requires drivers to pay careful attention when navigating the narrow streets and maze-like parking lots of Seoul. But don’t be disturbed. Once you get your hands on the mahogany wood grip of the steering wheel, this ponderous vehicle feels as light as a feather.The new S560 offers extraordinarily soft movement, but the engine still has power. The 469-horsepower vehicle boasts a 0-100 kilomet

GM Korea Co., the South Korean unit of General Motors Co., said Monday it will pay monthly salaries to its employees this month despite a liquidity crisis.　In a letter sent to employees, GM Korea President and Chief Executive Kaher Kazem said the company will provide part of the salaries due to its 11,000 assembly line workers on Tuesday and will make efforts to give the remainder before the end of the week, according to a company spokesman.　Some 2,500 office workers receive their monthly salari

Mercedes-Benz Korea, the local unit of the German high-end carmaker, has paid a fine after being sued by the Ministry of Environment for failing to comply with a special act that binds carmakers to sell a certain portion of eco-friendly vehicles annually, the ministry said Monday.For the first time ever among local and import automakers, the ministry sued Mercedes-Benz Korea in August last year for failing to meet its annual green car sales quota.“Mercedes-Benz Korea sold roughly 400 units of gr

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s No. 1 automotive company, and its sister company Kia Motors swept six awards at the Red Dot Design Award this year, the companies said Monday. Arranged by Germany’s Design Zentrum Nordheim Westfalen, the Red Dot Design Award is one of the three most recognized design awards alongside the iF Design Award and IDEA Design Award. Out of the six awards, the two automakers won a combined five awards for transportation design. Five models of Hyundai and Kia that won the tra

The South Korean unit of the US auto giant GM Motors is currently facing difficulties paying its workers and subcontract companies as it faces a serious liquidity crunch, industry watchers said Sunday.According to corporate sources, Kaher Kazem, the CEO of GM Korea, recently organized a staff meeting, where he claimed that the company may soon fail to secure funds to pay subcontractors for auto parts, which could lead to the suspension of production for some models. The suspension may induce GM

Automaker says EVs to make up quarter of Audi VW sales in Korea by 2020

A regional unit of South Korean cable maker LS Cable and System has invested about 10 billion won ($9.5 million) in its subsidiary in Vietnam to expand copper rod production, the company said Thursday. The investment by LS C&S Asia will expand the production capacity of its copper rod plant in Vietnam to 100,000 tons a year. LS VINA, a local production unit in the Southeast Asian country, currently manufactures 27,000 tons of copper rod a year. Copper rods are used for electrical or electronic-r

A face-lifted Range Rover series was released in South Korea on Thursday, in a bid to keep the popularity of the British luxury SUV afloat. The new Range Rover Sport is the latest in the line in five years, equipped with all-round light-emitting diode headlights, a V6 supercharger engine and stone massage functions for both front and back seats. Kim Jung-yong, product manager at Jaguar Land Rover Korea, said the local importer and distributor of the British carmaker aims to sell 1,800 vehicles a

Chairman says tone toward Hyundai different from Samsung

Upon its sell-off to China’s state-run tiremaker Qingdao Doublestar, Kumho Tire vowed to bolster its brand value through autonomous management in efforts to normalize its business, the company said Thursday.Kumho Tire, South Korea’s No. 2 tiremaker by sales, ended a standoff with its labor union on April 1, with the union agreeing to accept foreign investment, therefore preventing the ailing company from filing for court receivership.During a visit to Korea to persuade the union and the public l

Sales at Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. in the United States declined six percent on-year last month, industry data showed Wednesday.  (Yonhap)Hyundai, including its premium brand Genesis, and Kia sold a combined 112,185 vehicles in the US in March, down from 118,694 units the same month a year earlier, according to the companies' data. The data showed Hyundai's sales dipped 11 percent on-year to 61,540 units. The sharp decline was mainly due to the sales of two of Hyundai'

Elliott Advisors, a unit of US activist hedge fund Elliott Management, said Wednesday it holds more than a $1 billion stake in Hyundai Motor Group and urged the country’s leading automotive group to share detailed plans to improve the balance sheets and returns to shareholders.This comes a week after Hyundai Motor Group’s announcement for a grand governance reform to streamline its complex cross-sharing structure in response to mounting pressure from the government. (Yonhap)While welcoming Hyund

Ford Sales and Service Korea launched Wednesday the flagship 2018 New Mustang, boasting upgraded driving performance with aims to step up performance in the local auto market.“We hope the new Mustang will attract previous customers alongside drivers seeking an exciting driving experience on enhanced performance, technology and design,” said Ford Korea CEO Jung Jae-hee during a launch event in southern Seoul.Mustang was ranked the best-selling sports car worldwide between 2015 and 2016 by market