The Korea Herald

Lexus named most affordable luxury car

Feb 9, 2014

Toyota’s premium sedan brand Lexus was named the most reasonably priced luxury marque by Kelley Blue Book for the second consecutive year.Topping the “2014 5-year Cost to Own” category alongside Mazda, Lexus models had the overall lowest-projected price tag for the first five years of ownership, the car shopping data service said. In the Kelley Blue Book awards, Lexus LS and RX topped the High-End Luxury and SUV/Crossover categories, respectively. According to KBB, Lexus offsets the purchase pri
Peugeot presses on with tie-up

Feb 9, 2014

The board of embattled French carmaker Peugeot reiterated Thursday that it was pressing on with a tie-up with China’s Dong Feng and the French state despite a split on the issue within the Peugeot family.Reports had emerged that chairman Thierry Peugeot and smaller shareholders were against the restructuring that would bring Peugeot an urgently needed 3 billion euro ($4.0 billion) cash injection.If completed, the plan would give Dong Feng, the French state and the Peugeot family each a 14 percen
Honda touts progress in F1 comeback

Feb 9, 2014

Japanese automaker Honda said Friday it is making “steady progress” toward its return to Formula One racing in 2015.Honda said last year it would rejoin the European-dominated sport as an engine supplier to British team McLaren in a bid to revive their championship-winning partnership.“The company is making steady progress in developing the power unit,” Honda said in a statement outlining its motorsports strategy for 2014.The company is establishing its European base for F1 activity in Milton Ke
Carmakers hope for better days at India Auto Show

Feb 9, 2014

Global car manufacturers jostled for attention at the opening of the Indian Auto Expo on Wednesday, attempting to revive buyers’ interest in a local market that is contracting for the first time in a decade.The giant show on the outskirts of the capital will be used to launch 69 new vehicles for the Indian market, which local and foreign carmakers still see as a future growth centre despite its present-day woes. “The first month of 2014 did not witness any improvement in the overall industry per
Ford says car exports from U.S. up 50% since 2009

Feb 9, 2014

Ford Motor said strong trade partnerships are needed to maintain the company’s U.S. exports that have grown 50 percent since 2009, when auto-industry sales reached a 27-year low.Ford, the second-biggest U.S. automaker, is the nation’s largest exporter of vehicles, Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, said at the Chicago Auto Show.While Ford shipped more than 370,000 vehicles out of the U.S. last year, and more than 30,000 Edge and Explorer sport-utility vehicles produced in North Amer
Ssangyong Motor debuts LIV-1 concept SUV

Feb 6, 2014

Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea’s fourth-largest carmaker, said Thursday it unveiled its LIV-1 concept sport utility vehicle for the first time outside its home turf at the 12th Delhi Auto Show underway in the Indian capital.The car, dubbed LIV-1 for Limitless Interface Vehicle, outlines the new “Nature-born 3Motion” design language of the company that has made considerable strides to capture greater market share and meet customer satisfaction in recent years.In 2013, Ssangyong’s sales surged 2
Hankook Tire wins international design award

Feb 6, 2014

Hankook Tire Co., South Korea’s leading tire maker, said Thursday one of its products won a prestigious international design award in Germany.It said the Kinergy 4S was tapped by experts at the International Forum Design Award (iF) for incorporating groove and block features that are asymmetrical and yet handle all weather conditions effectively.The overall design and the use of the chemical compound silica in the materials prevents the tires from losing traction over wet roads as well as snow-
Hyundai, Kia sales in U.S. grow in January

Feb 4, 2014

Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automotive conglomerate, said Monday that its U.S. sales got off to a good start in January thanks to demand for its compact cars and sport utility vehicles.Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors America, the distribution and marketing arms of the group’s flagship companies, said sales were up 1 percent and 2 percent, respectively, in the one month period, compared with a year earlier. The growth in sales numbers are in contrast to the 0.3 percent dip
Kia’s upcoming Soul EV receives eco-friendly certification

Feb 4, 2014

Kia Motors Corp. said Tuesday its Soul electric vehicle, to be unveiled at the upcoming Chicago Auto Show, received an eco-friendly certification from a leading U.S. safety organization.The Soul EV, which earned the “Environmental Claim Validation” from Underwriters Laboratories, makes extensive use of bio plastics, fabrics and foam, the company said. The interior trim uses plastic based on cellulose, with bio fabrics outfitting the carpets and eco-friendly paint applied to the car. It also util
Porsche to extend warranties for loyal customers

Feb 3, 2014

Porsche Korea announced Monday that it will host the 2014 Porsche Refresh Campaign, the company’s complimentary post-warranty service, for customers whose car warranty has expired.Any customer who purchased a vehicle or registered at the Porsche service centers before January 2010 will be eligible to participate in the free-of-charge inspection, the company said.The checkup will be available at any of Porsche Korea’s authorized service centers from Feb. 3 through Feb. 28 and will include a “thor
Hyundai’s new U.S. chief confident of Genesis sales

Feb 3, 2014

Hyundai Motor America’s new CEO Dave Zuchowski showed confidence in promoting and selling the revamped Hyundai Genesis sedan in the all-important U.S. market in his recent visit to Korea, Seoul officials said Monday. Zuchowski, the former sales chief of the carmaker’s U.S. unit who succeeded John Krafcik as CEO on Jan. 1, arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a three-day visit with newly appointed executive vice president of sales Robert Pradzinski. According to the company, the U.S. management members
Carmakers in heritage battle

Feb 2, 2014

Japanese carmakers make strides in building legacy while Hyundai struggles with outdated data
Genesis, Soul win iF awards ahead of European launches

Feb 2, 2014

Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s sixth-largest automotive conglomerate, said Wednesday its new Genesis premium sedan and the second generation Soul boxy compact received international design awards ahead of their European launch in the first half of 2014.The group said the Genesis made by Hyundai Motor Co. and Soul produced by sister company Kia Motors Corp. were named product design winners in the transportation segment at the 2014 International Forum Design Award (iF) event in Germany.“The iF
AMG beats 2017 sales goal on Mercedes compacts

Feb 2, 2014

Mercedes-AMG brand beat an annual delivery target four years early in 2013 as the manufacturer of high-performance cars expanded into smaller models.AMG sold about 32,200 autos last year, the Affalterbach, Germany-based unit of Daimler AG said today in a statement. That exceeds a 30,000-vehicle goal set for 2017 that the company outlined in mid-2012, when it indicated that annual deliveries were averaging 20,000.The 47-year-old business, known for its hand-built performance engines and sporty ex
Mexico surpassing Japan in exporting autos to U.S.

Feb 2, 2014

Blame it on NAFTA.Japan has ranked among the top two auto exporters to the U.S. since the 1970s, shipping Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans more than 8,000 kilometers across the Pacific.The Asian nation is poised to be eclipsed this year by Mexico, which as recently as 1990 sent fewer than a quarter of a million vehicles across its northern border. Mexico’s tally will reach 1.9 million in 2015, topping Canada as the biggest exporter of cars to the world’s largest economy, consultant IHS Automotive est