The Korea Herald

Major supercar brands to join Seoul Motor Show

Feb 24, 2015

Major supercar brands will join the 2015 Seoul Motor Show to be held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, from April 3-12, the exhibition’s organizing committee said Tuesday. The committee said during a news conference that Italian supercar brand Lamborghini will join the nation’s largest auto exhibition for the first time, with three models. Bentley Motors, a U.K.-based supercar manufacturer, will make a comeback to the biannual auto expo after eight years.Luxury sports car brand Maserati, w
Hyundai aims to widen client pool with turbo-added 2015 Sonata

Feb 24, 2015

South Korea's top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. is, without a doubt, best known at home for its Sonata midsize sedan lineup, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year since the name first entered the market in 1985. So far, the carmaker, under the wings of the world's No. 5 auto giant Hyundai Motor Group, has sold a cumulative 7.31 million units of its various editions under the Sonata label in 72 countries, according to the company's data. Recently, however, other segments have become po
S. Korean car buyers in 20s shrink amid job hunt struggles

Feb 24, 2015

South Koreans in their 20s have been cutting back on buying cars over the past four years as they cope with tough job-searching amid adverse business conditions, industry data showed Tuesday. Last year, a total of 109,671 vehicles were purchased by people in their 20s here, down 1.7 percent from the 111,558 units in 2013, according to the data by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. The figure has been on a downtrend since 2011 when the number of newly registered cars to owners in
Kia's Soul EV becomes best-selling electric car in S. Korea last year

Feb 23, 2015

Kia Motors Corp.'s Soul electric vehicle was the most widely sold model among battery-powered cars in South Korea last year, data showed Monday, with two other local autos ranking second and third. A total of 414 units of the Soul EV were sold here in 2014, taking up more than a third of the 1,183 electric cars sold in the country over the one-year period, according to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association. Industry watchers said the popularity of the Soul EV is
BMW Premium Selection celebrates 10th anniversary

Feb 22, 2015

German luxury carmaker BMW is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Premium Selection collection. With the success of its premium used-car dealerships, the company has reinforced its checkup services and expanded its showrooms to satisfy people with different needs. The Premium Selection is available for all BMW and MINI cars that have been driven less than 100,000 kilometers in less than five years. A 72-point check is conducted before a car is granted Premium Selection status, which includes
Tivoli sales going strong

Feb 22, 2015

Sales of Ssangyong’s new compact SUV may reach 10,000 units in less than 2 months
Tivoli sales reach 25 pct of annual target in one month

Feb 22, 2015

Ssangyong Motor Co.'s Tivoli sport utility vehicle, just launched last month, easily surpassed initial expectations as its sales reached nearly one fourth of the sales goal for the entire year, industry data showed Sunday. A total of 9,500 units of the SUV by South Korea's smallest carmaker were sold as of Tuesday since its Jan. 13 introduction, according to industry data.The figure marks 24.7 percent of Ssangyong Motor's original yearly sales target of 38,500 units for the car, which is the fir
Hyundai Motor to increase production of commercial vehicles

Feb 16, 2015

Hyundai Motor, the nation’s top automaker, announced Monday that it would invest 2 trillion won ($1.8 billion) in raising its annual production capacity of commercial vehicles to 100,000 units ― a 54 percent increase from the current 65,000 units ― by 2020.“About 80 percent of the investment will be allocated to research and development, while the remaining 20 percent will be spent on expansion of the commercial auto production line in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province,’’ the company said in a press
Maserati domestic sales soar to record high

Feb 15, 2015

Sales in Korea of the Italian luxury sports car brand Maserati soared to a record high of 723 units last year, up 469 percent from 2013, a company executive said last week. The jump was the highest among markets in the Southeast Asia and Pacific region.Sales of the Italian company’s luxury vehicles with price tags of over 100 million won ($91,000) grew at 252 percent on average in the same period. “If we look at Korea, this is the strongest and the biggest market in the (SEAP) region, accounting
Japanese car makers seek former glory

Feb 15, 2015

Falling oil prices, weak yen, new car launches boost local appeal of Japanese cars
Han Sung Motor expands youth art program

Feb 12, 2015

Han Sung Motor, the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in Korea, is strengthening its social contribution this year by expanding its young artist development program, Dream Gream. The program, which offers a variety of art classes, a summer camp and mentoring, has nurtured 20 teenage students from financially challenged families as young artists every year since 2012. The company decided to double the number of sponsored students to 40 this year, motivated by impressive feedback from all stakeholders
GM Korea, union agree on single-shift system at Gunsan plant

Feb 11, 2015

GM Korea Co. and its labor union agreed to scale down its work shift at its struggling Gunsan plant, a move aimed to reduce costs amid falling overseas demand following its withdrawal from Europe, company officials said Wednesday.The workers will go on a single work shift instead of the current double shift, but they have been assured of keeping their jobs through relocation to other duties, they said.The two sides also agreed to lower the number of vehicles produced each hour from 54 to 48 as i
[Newsmaker] Can Ssangyong Motor regain its past glory?

Feb 11, 2015

For Ssangyong Motor, spring appears to have arrived earlier than expected. The labor strife-marred automaker is poised to celebrate the high unexpected sales of its new compact sport utility vehicle Tivoli and select its new leader in six years.The automaker said on Wednesday it sold more than 8,000 Tivoli vehicles in the first month since its market debut on Jan. 13.“The morale of employees is riding high due to the sales,’’ a company official said. The Tivoli, rival to small SUVs like Renault
Hyundai launches upgraded turbo-powered Sonata at home

Feb 11, 2015

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's top carmaker, said Wednesday it has released a redesigned edition of its Sonata turbo model in the home market to attract younger customers with its improved fuel efficiency and more polished look. The new model of Hyundai's flagship midsize sedan has an in-house developed "new theta-i" 2.0-liter turbo gasoline direct injection powertrain that packs a maximum horsepower of 245 and 36 kilogram-meters of torque. The newest Sonata also sports a mileage of 10.8 k
Ssangyong Motor's Tivoli sales top 8,000 units in less than one month

Feb 11, 2015

Ssangyong Motor Co. said Wednesday that it has sold more than 8,000 Tivoli compact sport utility vehicles in less than a month after its debut, possibly making it one of the biggest hit models for this year. Ssangyong Motor, the smallest carmaker in South Korea, started to sell the Tivoli compact SUVs on Jan. 13, the first new model the company unveiled since it was purchased by India's Mahindra & Mahindra Group in 2011. The sales of the SUV may well top 10,000 units by the end of this month i