The Korea Herald

Ssangyong targets 123,000 unit sales

Jan 3, 2012

Ssangyong Motor Co., South Korea’s smallest automaker, said Tuesday that it aims to sell 123,000 vehicles this year with sales reaching 3.19 trillion won ($2.77 billion) in order to overcome deepening market uncertainties.The automaker sold 113,000 vehicles last year, a 38.2 percent surge from the previous year.Of the total, 38,651 vehicles were sold at home and 74,350 in overseas markets.The company said it set an ambitious sales target for 2012 despite the global economic slowdown, and vowed t
Korean automakers to keep momentum this year

Jan 3, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) - South Korean automakers are likely to maintain upward momentum this year, driven largely by brisk overseas demand, experts said Tuesday.Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. expect weaker growth in sales this year, citing a slow-down in the global auto industry.The two flagship companies of Hyundai Motor Group saw their combined sales pass 6.59 million units last year, exceeding the 6.33 million sales target set in early 2011.“Hyundai and Kia are aiming for combined sa
Hyundai, Kia set sales goal of 7 million units

Jan 2, 2012

Hyundai Motor Group has set its sales target for this year at 7 million, chairman Chung Mong-koo said Monday.In a New Year’s message to his staff, Chung said the automotive group raised its 2012 sales target by 400,000 vehicles from its sales of 6.6 million units in 2011.In a bid to achieve the 7 million target for Hyundai-Kia vehicles, he said, the group has to keep up with fast-changing global trends by setting up an organized cooperation system for better communication among production facili
Korean automakers see sharp sales growth in 2011

Jan 2, 2012

Korean automakers announced on Monday that their 2011 sales jumped on solid demand overseas, despite the gloom that hit other sectors because of problems in the eurozone. Hyundai Motor Co., Korea’s leading automaker, said Monday that its 2011 sales increased 12.3 percent from a year earlier, propelled mainly by strong overseas demand for its vehicles. The carmaker said it sold more than 4.05 million vehicles overall last year, up from 3.60 million units in 2010. Domestic sales also moved up 3.6
Hyundai Motor selling more luxury cars than ever in Europe

Jan 1, 2012

The profitability of South Korea’s largest automaker Hyundai Motor Group is fast improving in the European market as the company is selling record numbers of large luxury vehicles there, market observers said Sunday.In 2009, the automotive group sold 579,780 vehicles in Europe,79.5 percent of which were small or medium-size cars. The company’s sales rose to 620,372 units in 2010, but the proportion of small and medium-size vehicles dropped 3.7 percentage points to 75.8 percent.Sales of small and
Saab Auto said to attract interest from India’s Mahindra

Jan 1, 2012

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s biggest sport-utility vehicle manufacturer, is interested in buying at least parts of bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab Automobile, two people familiar with the situation said.Mahindra, based in Mumbai, is in the process of trying to set up meetings with the two court-appointed administrators who are overseeing Saab’s bankruptcy to possibly buy parts of the carmaker or the whole company, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plans are private.
Kia, Renault compete for first electric cars on road

Jan 1, 2012

But EV cars unlikely to be a popular option even in a decade, analysts sayThe recently announced government support for electric vehicles has sparked a race to launch homegrown zero-emission cars between Hyundai Motor Group and Renault Samsung. Both have vowed to launch the country’s first mass produced electric car in 2013.Kia Motors Corp., an affiliate of Hyundai, rolled out the all-electric version of its compact car Ray earlier this month and said it will supply a total of 2,500 units to pub
Quake impact may spread beyond Japan

Jan 1, 2012
Honda recalls Civics on fuel leak risk

Jan 1, 2012
Renault Samsung plans Korea’s first mass-produced electric car

Dec 30, 2011

Renault Samsung, the local affiliate of French automaker Renault SA, said it plans to introduce the all-electric SM3 to the public in 2013 in what is to become the country’s first mass production of zero-emission cars, CEO Francois Provost said.“We have plans to mass produce EV cars out of our Busan plant, we will confirm the details at the beginning of next year,” Provost recently told The Korea Herald. “For Renault Samsung, (the emergence of electric cars) is a big opportunity because the Kore
Hyundai Motor to invest W14tr in 2012

Dec 29, 2011

Group’s R&D investment to focus on launching more hybrid modelsHyundai Motor Group has set a record-high budget with its 2012 investment in two major sectors ― facilities and research & development.The automotive group said Thursday that its investment target for next year comes to 14.1 trillion won ($12.3 billion), up 15.6 percent from its 2011 investment.Of the 14.1 trillion won investment, 5.1 trillion won will be used for the R&D sector and the remaining 9 trillion won will be allocated to f
Hyundai Motor to establish research center at Hanyang Univ.

Dec 28, 2011

Hyundai Motor Group will establish an automotive research institute at the Seoul campus of Hanyang University.The business group said Wednesday that it has signed a contract with the university to build a research center for developing futuristic cars.The two sides will break ground for the establishment of the center during the first half of 2012, Hyundai Motor said in a statement.By offering students and researchers high-end facilities, the two sides hope to foster specialists to take on core
Sales of Kia’s K2 subcompact car hit record high in China

Dec 26, 2011

Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Monday that sales of its K2 subcompact vehicle reached a record high in China last month, driven by rising demand there.The K2, also known as the Rio in the U.S. and European markets, hit showrooms in China in July and has proven a big hit, with sales exceeding the 10,000 mark in September. Sales of K2 models in China reached 11,327 units and 12,790 units in October and November, respectively, Kia Motors said.The company attributed t
Volvo’s new plug-in-hybrid available late 2012

Dec 25, 2011

STOCKHOLM (DPA) ― Volvo is planning to extend its model line-up with a V60 Plug-in-Hybrid that will be available as a limited edition late next year, according to the manufacturer.The Pure Limited Version, with a production run of 1,000 units,will be available in Europe starting at 57,000 euros ($74,300), some 5,000 euros higher than for the basic diesel version.Among the standard features are the paint work in “electric silver”with high-gloss black elements, aero dynamically formed 17-inch allo
Toyota sales may rise 20 percent on recovery from disasters

Dec 25, 2011

Toyota Motor Corp. said its vehicle sales may rise the most in at least 12 years in 2012 as Asia’s biggest carmaker recovers from production disruptions caused by Japan’s March earthquake and Thailand’s record flooding.The maker of Prius hybrid cars may boost global deliveries 20 percent to 8.48 million vehicles from an estimated 7.05 million in 2011, it said in a statement today. The forecast excludes Toyota’s Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co. units.Toyota, poised to lose its crown as the