Since Mercedes-Benz Korea introduced its first E-Class premium sedan lineup here in 2003, 239,760 of the cars had been sold as of June.  The current E-Class, the 10th-generation model, was launched in 2016. Within three years, it became the first model from a foreign carmaker to achieve 100,000 sales in such a short time. Behind the popularity of the E-Class is not only its dynamic performance and intelligent driving assistant features, but a varied lineup of E-Class models -- from gasol

Hyundai Motor Group’s sales of specific models -- hybrid, plug-in, electric and hydrogen-powered -- in the local market jumped over 36 percent in the first half of this year, indicating a growing preference for eco-friendly cars.  The top South Korean automaker said Sunday its sales of the eco-friendly cars stood at 67,798 as of June, up by 36.2 percent compared to the same period last year.  Specifically, it sold a total of 37,697 units, up by 29.3 percent on-year, while Kia

COVID-19 has hit the global car industry harder than any other financial crisis, and car sales will not recover to last year’s levels until around 2023, a market analyst said Friday. Lee Bo-sung, the head of Hyundai Motor Group’s global business R&D center, delivered those predictions at a seminar organized by the Korea Automobile Journalists Association. Members of KAJA gathered at the AMG Speedway, a driving circuit in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, to attend the seminar and s

South Korea is in talks with China to increase the number of flights to the country to 10 a week mainly to meet travel demand from businessmen, the transport ministry said Sunday. Korean airlines currently serve three routes from Incheon to Chinese cities and plan to resume flights on four more routes to the neighboring country this month, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. "The (Seoul) government is in talks with the Chinese authorities to resume flights o

Hyundai Motor’s new, face-lifted version of the Santa Fe is here with a much different look and smarter system, set to regain its reputation as the first SUV to sell 100,000 vehicles in South Korea. The automaker released the refreshed version of its signature family sport utility vehicle on June 30, two years after it launched the fourth-generation model in 2018. For the year, the car sold over 100,000 units, making it the first SUV in the 100,000 club. As changes are often subtle

Renault Samsung Motors said Thursday it will export the first batch of 83 units of its sport utility vehicle XM3 manufactured at its Busan plant to Chile, pushing ahead with its overseas expansion. The automaker said the vehicles will be shipped on July 25 to be displayed at showrooms in the South American country, offering test drives for customers.  By the year-end, the company plans to export 57 more units to Chile. The five-seater XM3 was launched in March here, topping the local B-

Air Busan Co., the budget carrier unit of Asiana Airlines Inc., said Thursday it will resume flights to China next week upon quarantine approval from China. Air Busan plans to begin offering one flight per week on the Incheon-Shenzhen route on Fridays from July 17, the company said in a statement. "The company is targeting to increase the number of flights on the route to Shenzhen depending on the Chinese authorities' guidance. And it aims to restart services on the Incheon-Ningbo route

BMW Korea said Wednesday it plans to launch the plug-in hybrid sports sedan New 330e, with a greater electric range. With the addition of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, the German automaker said it has completed its New 3 Series lineup. The BMW New 330e is equipped with 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that can create up to 292 horsepower and 42.8 kilogram-meters of torque. It accelerates to 100 kilometers per hour in 5.9 seconds. With the Xtraboost function, the car can s

Years after ‘dieselgate,’ German carmaker reclaims No. 3 imported brand spot

Hyundai Motor said Wednesday it will hire staff from abroad year-round by replacing its annual regular recruitment to boost workforce in the fields of future mobility. The move is intended to select talented workers more timely in line with the rapidly changing business environment in the auto industry. Recruitment areas this year include autonomous driving, power electronics, fuel cell, future energy, robotics, artificial intelligence, software and big data. The candidates are required have

Casting more doubt over the controversy-ridden merger of two budget carriers, Jeju Air reiterated its warning on Tuesday that it will cancel its acquisition contract if Eastar Jet fails to meet prerequisites by July 15. Jeju Air, South Korea’s largest low cost carrier by sales, released a statement that the company has “done its best” to close the acquisition deal since it signed the contract to acquire a 51.17 percent stake in rival LCC Eastar Jet for 54.5 billion won ($45 m

The heir apparent of Hyundai Motor Group met with the head of refinery-to-battery conglomerate SK Group on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in the electric vehicle (EV) business. Hyundai Motor Group Executive Vice Chairman Chung Euisun and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won discussed cooperation on next-generation EV battery technologies, power management chips, and the "battery-as-a-service (Baas)" platform, the automaker said in a statement. Baas is a breakthrough business model mainl

Global new orders of ships fell to a historic low in the first half of the year amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry sources said Tuesday. In the January-June period, global new shipbuilding orders totaled 5.75 million compensated gross tons (CGTs), or a total of 269 ships, according to data provided by global market researcher Clarkson Research Service. The tally marks the lowest since 1996, when the market tracker began to compile related data, and a 42 percent drop from the previous y

First batch of XCIENT fuel cell trucks exported to Switzerland

The Korea Automobile Journalists Association said Monday that it has selected German carmaker Audi’s luxury sedan the New Audi A4 as its car of the month. Every month, the association selects its best model among new vehicles and face-lifted versions that were launched within the past month, based on five criteria including exterior, interior design, practicality, safety and comfort features, product marketability and purchasing intent.  For July, the Lexus UX F Sport, which was la