Most Popular
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[Herald Interview] 'Amid aging population, Korea to invite more young professionals from overseas'
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Korea’s homegrown nanosatellite successfully launches into space
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Nicaragua shuts down Seoul embassy
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Rocket engine expert, ex-NASA exec to lead Korea's new space agency
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SNU profs to suspend treatment for one day
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SK hynix pledges W20tr to ramp up DRAM production at home
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Hybe's multilabel system tested amid conflict with Ador
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Over-50s, men, single-person households take up majority of those filing for bankruptcy
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Ministry denies blame for Jamboree debacle
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Pianist Cho Seong-Jin named Berlin Philharmonic's artist-in-residence
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Hyundai Motor, labor union clash over ordinary wage
Hyundai Motor Group is facing critical wage talks with its hard-line labor union as workers are calling for the revision of a 60-year-old wage scheme. Now, coupled with the recent decision from fellow carmaker GM Korea to include bonuses as ordinary wages, the South Korean auto firm is expected to face an uphill battle in sticking to its guns. Following a favorable Supreme Court ruling in December, the labor union of Hyundai Motor and other unions across industries have been demanding bonuses an
July 21, 2014
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GM Korea takes preorders for micro commercial cars
GM Korea Co., South Korea’s third-largest carmaker, said Monday it has started receiving pre-contract orders for its reintroduced Damas and Labo micro commercial vehicles.The cars will reach show windows in earnest in August after production was halted last year.The company said it has invested in updating vehicle engineering and manufacturing plant facilities at its Changwon plant, located some 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Damas and Labo were popular as they were the only vehicles in the
July 21, 2014
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Hyundai Motor U.S. sales top 9m mark
Hyundai Motor Co. said Sunday that its combined sales in the United States surpassed the 9 million unit mark at the end of June, 28 years after it started selling cars in the country. Between 1986 and June this year, South Korea’s largest carmaker had sold a total of 9,028,420 vehicles in the U.S., the company said. It said it expects to reach the 10 million mark in the second half of next year. Hyundai Motor’s best-selling car in the U.S. was the Sonata midsize sedan, whose sales reached 2,221,
July 20, 2014
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GM Korea to count regular bonuses as ordinary wages
GM Korea, the local unit of U.S. automaker General Motors, offered to count regular bonuses paid to its employees as part of their ordinary wages, company officials said Friday, becoming the first in the car industry to settle one of the most contentious issues in management-union negotiations this year.The proposal, made Thursday during wage talks, was welcomed by the union, company officials said.The new wage system is expected to go into force from Aug. 1, although the company union wants it
July 20, 2014
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Nissan to produce self-parking cars by 2016
Nissan Motor Co. will introduce cars that park themselves by 2016, chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn said, as the Japanese carmaker rushes to be among the first to offer automated driving.The feature, along with technology enabling cars to autonomously navigate congested highways, will be available in a wide range of vehicles, Ghosn told reporters today in Tokyo. Two years later, the company plans to offer vehicles that can change lanes automatically, and by 2020, they’ll be able to handle in
July 20, 2014
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Chinese regulator probing foreign automakers over parts
China is examining whether foreign auto manufacturers are preventing component makers from selling spare parts to any dealers besides those authorized by the car companies, people familiar with the matter said.The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s economic planning body, is probing practices at Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen AG’s Audi, Munich-based Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Japanese carmakers to see whether prices of spare parts are being
July 20, 2014
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Volkswagen, Fiat deny tie-up report
Italian automaker Fiat and its main shareholder denied on Thursday a media report that the company is in merger talks with rival Volkswagen. The German carmaker also said it had no plans for mergers or acquisitions.Shares in Fiat briefly rose 5 percent, before closing up 1 percent at 7.70 euros ($10.40), after Manager Magazin in Germany reported that the main shareholders in Fiat SpA and Volkswagen AG have had a series of talks about Volkswagen taking over all or part of Fiat, which controls Chr
July 20, 2014
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[Herald Interview] After growth, Maserati bets big on Korea
Maserati, the maker of niche sporty, exotic Italian driving machines, is betting big on South Korea, where its car sales are expected to soar almost sevenfold to some 700 vehicles this year.“Nothing comes as surprise,” Umberto Maria Cini, Maserati’s managing director of overseas markets, told The Korea Herald in Seoul on Thursday. “It’s definitely a success that we have prepared over the years and of which now we see the results. It was meant to be like that.”According to the carmaker, Maserati
July 20, 2014
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Ssangyong Motor launches Nomad SUV in Kazakhstan
Ssangyong Motor Co., the local unit of Indian SUV carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said Monday it has launched the Nomad SUV in Kazakhstan, the first significant move by the automaker, which is looking to make a big splash in Central Asia.The car will be shipped as a complete knock-down kit and assembled at a plant that can churn out 10,000 cars annually, the company said. The Nomad is a modified version of the Actyon compact SUV that has been specially tailored to meet the driving conditions
July 14, 2014
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BMW unveils its first Asian driving center in Yeongjongdo
YEONGJONGDO, Incheon ― BMW Group on Monday unveiled its first driving center in Asia here, which the German luxury carmaker said shows its latest commitment to Korea, the ninth-largest market globally. The new facility, located in Yeongjongdo, Incheon, some 40 kilometers west of Seoul, is the third driving center after those in Germany and the United States ― the two countries where BMW produces vehicles.According to BMW Korea, the carmaker plans to invest a combined 77 billion won ($75 million)
July 14, 2014
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Renault Samsung, GM Korea face prospect of strikes by workers
South Korean carmakers are facing the prospect of renewed labor strife as they deal with unfavorable market conditions, industry sources said Monday.Renault Samsung Motors Co. and GM Korea Co. said their union workers are planning walkouts and work disruptions after initial union-management talks failed to find middle ground on regular wages, bonuses and fringe benefits.Renault Samsung, the local unit of French automaker Renault S.A., said its workers at the company’s Busan plant will halt work
July 14, 2014
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Hyundai Motor Brazil makes impact on local economy
SAO PAULO ― The roads in Piracicaba, a rural town two hours’ drive from the city of Sao Paulo, are dug up on the shoulders and center dividers. Construction workers drill and repave roads, and where there were only sugar plantations five years ago, there is now a hive of activity.This is the production hub of Hyundai Motor Brazil, a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group that opened its first Latin American factory here in 2012 as part of its overseas expansion into emerging economies. And as Hyundai
July 13, 2014
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‘Hyundai is a premium brand in Brazil’
SAO PAULO ― In a country long dominated by the world’s auto giants, Hyundai Motor Brazil saw a golden opportunity in Latin America’s biggest auto market and seized its chance. For the past three years, it has shaken up the compact segment by giving drivers of “popular cars” the high-end treatment.Thanks to the self-transformation of its brand image as a car for the common driver, Hyundai is one of the six most sought-after car brands in the country. And even producing 180,000 cars a year at full
July 13, 2014
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Hyundai-Kia tops Russian car sales in June
Hyundai SolarisHyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors seized the top spot in the Russian car market last month, beating homegrown brand Avtovaz. According to industry data on Friday, Hyundai and Kia sold 16,754 and 17,023 vehicles, respectively, in Russia last month. Avtovaz, Russia’ largest carmaker, fell to second, selling 30,114 units. It was the first time that the two Korean siblings outsold Avtovaz in monthly sales on the Russian auto giant’s home turf.Market shares of Hyundai and Kia
July 11, 2014
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Korea raises concern over Chile’s move to impose tax on diesel cars
South Korea has expressed concerns over Chile’s ongoing consideration to impose an environment tax on diesel cars, a move that could hurt the nation’s vehicle exports to the Latin American country, a government official in Seoul said Friday.South Korea’s concerns were conveyed in a recent letter to the Chilean government, according to the official from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It also noted such a tax may violate the countries’ bilateral fr
July 11, 2014
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U.S. sales of Kia’s iconic Soul boxy compact top 500,000
Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s No. 2 automaker, said Thursday that U.S. sales of its iconic Soul boxy compact topped the half-million mark a little over five years after its debut in early 2009.As of last month, 509,854 Souls were sold in the North American country, the company said, stressing that the popularity of the entry-level crossover played a key part in the carmaker’s record-high sales figure reached in the first half of the year.Kia’s U.S. sales were up 7 percent on-year to 297,413 un
July 10, 2014
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Seoul begins test for new vehicle accident avoidance system
South Korea launched testing to verify the effectiveness of its new vehicle-crash avoidance technology, the government said Tuesday, in a step toward building accident-free highways.The accident avoidance system uses the so-called wireless access in vehicular environment technology that enables vehicle-to-vehicle as well as vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, allowing checks for any changes to the driving environment such as road conditions, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure
July 8, 2014
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First class-action suit filed over inflated fuel economy
Six carmakers, including two Korean and four foreign companies, have been hit with an unprecedented class-action lawsuit here for making bogus fuel-economy claims on their top-selling models. A group of 1,785 car owners filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Central District Court on Monday, seeking between 1.5 million won and 3 million won ($1,490-$2,960) each in compensation over the false gas mileage claims. Of them, 1,517 people ― or about 85 percent ― were owners of Hyundai Motor’s Santa Fe sport u
July 7, 2014
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GM Korea to reintroduce Damas and Labo in August
GM Korea, the nation’s third-largest carmaker, said Monday it will be reintroducing its Damas and Labo vehicles here to meet the persistent demand for these compact commercial vehicles. A company source said it was ready to set up an assembly line for the two models at its Changwon plant, located about 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Pilot production can start this month, the source said, with full-fledged assembly and delivery to start in mid-August.The cars, initially sold by GM Daewoo in t
July 7, 2014
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Han Sung Motor nurtures young talent through art
Han Sung Motor, the largest official Mercedes-Benz dealer in Korea, this year celebrates the third anniversary of its “Dream Gream (Picture) Project,” which aims to nurture young students with artistic talent.“The project is aimed at supporting students’ dreams, encouraging creativity, and giving long-term support to fulfill their goals,” said Ulf Ausprung, chief executive of Han Sung Motor.“I’ve seen many successful and emotionally rewarding cases through the project, and my wish is to further
July 6, 2014