Local carmakers eager to ride the boom while import car brands remain cautiousThe nation’s economic slowdown is turning consumers toward small-sized cars, a trend likely to continue during the second half of this year, according to experts and government officials.Auto analysts said the 20-year-old small car market is growing bigger than ever, selling 124,450 compact and sub-compact cars in the first seven months of this year with a 15 percent growth on-year.They said the market has a high chanc

Money-losing carmaker starts voluntary redundancy program for first timeRenault Samsung, the Korean unit of French automotive group Renault S.A., is pushing for downsizing in a desperate effort to overcome its financial difficulties caused by its long sluggish sales in Korea.The carmaker said Friday that it began accepting applications for early retirement from its employees as part of its 2012 “revival” plan.It is the first time that Renault Samsung has implemented a redundancy program since t

TOKYO (AP) ― Toyota raised its sales target for this year to a record 9.76 million vehicles and reported a strong recovery in quarterly profit Friday, underlining its bounce back from a disaster plagued 2011.Toyota Motor Corp. said April-June profit zoomed to 290.3 billion yen ($3.7 billion) from 1.1 billion yen the year before. Its new sales target would represent a 23 percent increase from the 7.95 million vehicles sold in 2011, and is 180,000 vehicles more than Toyota’s last forecast in Febru

Sales of air conditioners are booming thanks to the scorching weather and the Summer Olympic Games, electronic appliance companies said.“The extremely hot summer is the No. 1 reason for the air conditioner sales boom. The Olympics also contributed to the sales because these games are usually on during the night when people are back home from work,” said a spokesperson of LG Electronics. The boom is good news for AC manufacturers companies, especially as sales volume was cut almost in half in Jun

Janssen Korea became the first multinational medical firm in the country to name a woman CEO, the company said in a statement Thursday. The Korean branch of multinational firm Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that Kim Oak-yeon, 44, has accumulated rich experience as the former CEO of Janssen Malaysia, and is expected to become an even larger asset to the company. “I will make the best of my experience from working overseas so that Janssen Korea can take a step further in the fast-changing Korea

Hanwha Group chairman Kim Seung-youn and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki held a meeting in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss business opportunities from the country’s ongoing postwar reconstruction.The two leaders first met on May 30 when Hanwha signed an $8 billion contract to build a housing complex in Bismayah, a new satellite city of Baghdad. During their meeting, Kim explained the preparations for the housing project and proposed to organize a separate task force team to discuss new busines

The Korea International Trade Association has launched a “one-stop trade solution” service in which traders can report trade-related problems online and seek solutions from experts. The internet-based service, launched on Monday, aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the nation’s trade sector with more efficient and individualized solutions and alternatives, KITA said.With TradeSOS, international traders do not have to sweat over finding which of 12 ministries they need to consult when faced

Both of the nation’s two largest automakers ― Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. ― posted record sales during the first half of this year despite the global economic slowdown. Their combined operating profit recorded over 7 trillion won ($6 billion).Behind these stunning performance, particularly abroad, there might be a speedy management of the companies pushed by the automotive group’s chairman Chung Mong-koo and his son Eui-son, experts said. Hyundai rushed to push fuel-efficient, small v

President Lee Myung-bak instructed state bodies managing the electricity supply on Friday to cope with rising demand so there is no repeat of last year’s rolling blackouts.Lee made the remarks during his visit to Korea Power Exchange in southern Seoul to check whether the electricity supply was stable.There have been concerns that the nation could fail to meet soaring power demand as electricity demand spikes due to scorching temperatures. According to news reports, the country’s energy reserve