SK Network launched a black box application for smartphones Wednesday.The application allows smartphones to act as a black box, recording the surroundings of a vehicle. According to the company, the application allows more drivers to benefit from the functions of a black box without the additional cost of buying and installing such equipment.The application also provides the locations of SK gas st

Renault SA will begin selling low- cost cars online to defend its leadership of Europe’s surging budget-vehicle market against rival offerings including a new brand being developed by PSA Peugeot Citroen.Dacia, Renault’s no-frills badge, will experiment with an Internet sales program in Europe to prepare a wider rollout in the region next year, Gerard Detourbet, head of the company’s low-cost Entr

The National Pension Service and POSCO will acquire 5 percent stakes in a Brazilian producer of a rare earth metal used in steel, oil pipes and automotive components, they said on Thursday.They will each invest 400 billion won ($356 million) to acquire 5 percent of Brazil’s Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineracao, the world’s largest producer of the scarce mineral niobium.CBMM controls the

Improving overseas shipments boosted five South Korean carmakers’ sales in February, industry data showed Wednesday.Compared to February 2010, Hyundai Motor Co.’s sales increased by 12.1 percent to come in at just 281,000 units. Hyundai’s overseas sales recorded a year-on-year rise of 14.8 percent, while domestic sales increased by less than 500 units or 0.9 percent.The country’s second largest ca

Seoul prosecutors have secured a high-priced painting at the center of a graft scandal involving two former national tax chiefs, a prosecution official said Tuesday.The official said the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has obtained the painting titled "Hakdong Village" by the late abstract artist Choi Wook-kyung. Han Sang-ryule, a former head of the National Tax Service, is accused of p

Samsung Electronics Co. announced Tuesday that it won 30 prizes, including two top honors, at an international design exhibition.The South Korean electronics giant said it grabbed 30 awards at the 2011 iF Product Design Award. Organized by the International Forum Design in Hanover, Germany, since 1953, the award recognizes products for their overall design, originality and their consideration for

Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. formed a partnership with the mobile telecom service provider Vodafone to collaborate in telematics and related fields, the South Korean carmakers announced on Monday.Based in London, Vodafone is the world’s largest mobile telecom service provider in terms of revenue.Telematics, which combines telecommunications with informatics, is applied to a range of onbo

Ssangyong Motors Co. on Friday posted net profits of 8.1 billion won ($7.2 million) for 2010, marking a return to profit after two years in the red.The company, which recorded net loss of 346 billion won in 2009 and 710 billion won in 2008, said that rising sales and cost-cutting efforts allowed it to return to profit.Last year, the company’s domestic and overseas sales increased by 131.6 percent

GENEVA (DPA) ― A stunner at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show is the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari ― a tiny super car in red, Scuderia-style stripes, lashings of mesh grille and unique Ferrari badging, and based on the Abarth 500.Built in cooperation with Ferrari, the 1.4-liter turbo motor has an output of 180 horsepower compared to the 135 hp of the standard model with acceleration from zero to 100 km/