Most Popular
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Exports to US reach all-time high, widen gap with China
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Trump rekindles criticism: US forces defending 'wealthy' S. Korea 'free of charge'
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[Music in drama] Rekindle a love that slipped through your fingers
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Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
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Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
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Seoul Metro to seek legal action against malicious complaints
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Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
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[New faces of Assembly] Architect behind ‘audacious initiative’ believes in denuclearized North Korea
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Illit, mired in controversy, remains on Billboard charts for 5th week
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On May Day, labor unions blast Yoon's foreign nanny proposal
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BMW revives scooter ambitions to target ‘sleepers’
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG has long made powerful motorcycles such as the 193-horsepower S 1000 RR that can be seen screaming down the autobahn. Now, as arch-rival Audi roars into the bike market after buying Italy’s Ducati, BMW is looking to update its two-wheeler image with scooters designed to appeal to a more urbane rider.BMW is reviving its scooter ambitions nine years after it discontinued the C1, a model with a roof to keep riders dry in rainy weather. The new line is a far cry from unde
Aug. 26, 2012
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Ssangyong courts young drivers with SUV
Ssangyong Motor, the nation’s fourth-largest carmaker, is stepping up efforts to appeal to young drivers, with its sport utility vehicles receiving positive reviews, especially from those in their 20s and 30s. When local rivals like Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors suffered from sluggish domestic sales in the first half of this year, Ssangyong saw a modest 1.4 percent growth in car sales from one year ago. Ssangyong sold 56,653 vehicles in the first six months this year, including 34,812 units in ov
Aug. 26, 2012
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Chrysler 300 tops GM-Ford sedans in test
Chrysler Group LLC, the U.S. automaker majority owned by Fiat SpA, boosted its rating in Consumer Reports’ testing of large sedans as its 300 topped offerings by General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. The Chrysler 300 scored an 83, behind only Hyundai Motor Co.’s Genesis at 92, the Yonkers, New York-based magazine and product-testing group said today in an e-mailed statement. The cars were tested for their handling, efficiency, comfort and ease of use. The 300 was one of the new or refreshed mode
Aug. 26, 2012
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Competition heated in luxury sedan segment
Hyundai Motor bolsters marketing to battle BMW, Mercedes in GangnamKorean automakers are set to reinforce marketing of large sedans at home, as their sales in the lucrative premium segment continued to be eroded by import brands.Though Hyundai Motor is posting record-breaking sales of the Equus, Genesis and Grandeur sedans in major overseas markets including the U.S., the company had to suffer a heavy drop in share of the local upscale market.In the case of the Equus sedan, Hyundai posted 6,449
Aug. 26, 2012
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Honda’s new Accord brings investment, jobs to Ohio
CINCINNATI (AP) ― Honda’s new Accord sedan to be unveiled Monday at a central Ohio plant has led to more than $220 million in investments and more jobs in two of its other Ohio plants, with companies that supply Honda with products and services also getting a boost. Economic development officials in central Ohio, U.S., are hopeful the new Accord to be produced at Honda’s Marysville plant in Union County will lead to even more Honda investment in Ohio and bring more economic benefits to their are
Aug. 19, 2012
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GM chief seen planning global reorganization against ‘fiefdoms’
General Motors Co. chief executive officer Dan Akerson is planning a reorganization of the automaker that would move it away from long-entrenched regional authority toward a structure built on global functions, said two people familiar with the planning. Power would shift from regional chiefs to global leaders in areas such as marketing, purchasing and product development, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. While details are still being determined, the
Aug. 19, 2012
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Cars and creativity
Automakers experiment with new ideas to enhance driver comfort and convenienceAs auto technologies continually evolve, auto companies are now competing not just for speed and fuel efficiency but also for enhanced driving emotions. Kia Motors’ luxury sedan K9 was developed to vie directly with European premium brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz as well as its sister company Hyundai Motor’s Genesis and Equus. The upscale model of the carmaker’s flagship K series, which was released in May, offers rear-w
Aug. 19, 2012
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BMW, Hyundai top in H1 operating margin
BMW AG and Hyundai Motor Co. outperformed other domestic and foreign auto companies in terms of operating margin in the first half of 2012, an auto research institute reported on Wednesday. According to the study conducted by the private Korea Automotive Research Institute, or KARI, German automaker BMW and Korean automaker Hyundai Motor vied closely with operating margins of 11.6 percent and 11.4 percent, respectively.Kia Motors Corp., the nation’s second-largest carmaker, won third place with
Aug. 15, 2012
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Korean car exports fall 10.4% in July
Korea’s car exports fell 10.4 percent in July from a year ago due to contracted demand in Europe stemming from the region’s debt crisis, a government report showed Wednesday.Overseas vehicle shipments reached 238,824 units last month, compared with 266,627 vehicles exported a year ago, according to the report by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.The ministry said that sluggish exports to the debt-ridden European region led the decline, with shipments to Europe falling for six months in a row.Shi
Aug. 15, 2012
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BMW in China explains Europe’s best new bonds
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG’s China growth is being rewarded by investors who have pushed down relative yields on bonds sold in January by the biggest luxury carmaker more than any other new issue in Europe this year. The spread on BMW’s 1.25 billion euros ($1.5 billion) of notes due 2015 has narrowed 77 basis points since its Jan. 13 sale to 6 basis points, Bloomberg generic prices show. The 94 percent decline outpaced an 83 percent drop for the 500 million euros of 2017 notes issued the same m
Aug. 12, 2012
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Sales of small cars stay strong in slowdown
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
Aug. 12, 2012
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Toyota raises sales plan as quarterly profit zooms
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
Aug. 5, 2012
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VW completes purchase of Porsche
Volkswagen AG finalized the purchase of the Porsche auto business, ending a seven-year saga that saw VW turn the tables on the maker of the 911 sports car.VW paid the Porsche SE holding company 4.49 billion euros ($5.52 billion) and one common share for a 50.1 percent stake in Porsche AG, assuming full ownership of the brand, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company said Wednesday in a statement.“The path is now finally clear for a bright future together,” Martin Winterkorn, chief executive officer
Aug. 5, 2012
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Women driving import car market growth
Women seek foreign brand cars for style, performance, confidence boostAfter years of driving Korean cars, Chung Ji-eun, a 33-year-old businesswoman, recently purchased a Benz C-Class sedan for herself.“I used to enjoy shopping for European designers’ bags or shoes. But the satisfaction level with the Benz was the highest,” she said.“I like the luxury design and performance. But, above all, I feel more confident driving alongside the tough male drivers on the road.”The number of female drivers ha
Aug. 5, 2012
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Korean cars on roll in Africa, Middle East
Shipments of South Korean vehicles to Africa and the Middle East soared nearly 35 percent in the first half of this year, helping the regions emerge as the country’s biggest markets, industry data showed Tuesday.South Korea’s five carmakers led by Hyundai Motor Co. exported $1.28 billion worth of vehicles to African nations in the January-June period, up 34.4 percent from a year ago, according to data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.The other companies are Kia Motors C
July 31, 2012
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Toyota aims to bounce back in Korea
Japanese carmaker pins hopes on hybrid vehiclesToyota Motor Corp. is outperforming General Motors in global sales again, bouncing back from a massive recall incident and natural disasters in its home country.The Japanese automaker said it sold 4.97 million vehicles globally in the first half of the year, while the sales of GM stood at 4.67 million units.While Toyota’s Korean unit is also set to wage uphill sales battles with German firms such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, market insiders are w
July 31, 2012
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Capone‘s armored Cadillac up for sale
Al Capone‘s green and black Cadillac touring car was among the items on the block Saturday at a Michigan auction. Alan Squindo of RM Auctions told the Detroit News the car could go for as much as $500,000 at the sale in Plymouth, Mich. The event was not open to the public. Squindo said the car would be valuable even without its history. “This is a very special automobile, not withstanding its Capone history,” Squindo said. “It is a luxury car from a classic era as one of the first bulletproof ca
July 30, 2012
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Renault Samsung sees customer satisfaction as winning path
Renault Samsung Motors has gained popularity in the local market with its SM sedan series over the past decade.Of the automaker’s lineup, the mid-sized sedan SM5 and compact SM3 have long been among the top sellers in their respective segments.The mid-sized and compact sedan segments collectively account for about 50 percent of Korea’s passenger car market.Company executives say that the quality of its vehicles is the secret of its success, and a string of awards and consumer survey results back
July 29, 2012
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‘Responsive management lifts Hyundai-Kia sales’
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
July 29, 2012
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VW calls for Marchionne to quit as head of auto group
Volkswagen AG threatened to leave the ACEA European automakers association in response to comments by Fiat SpA chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne, a measure of rising tensions in the industry as sales slump. According to a report in the New York Times published yesterday, Marchionne suggested VW’s pricing strategy was creating a “bloodbath.” The newspaper said that auto executives, including Marchionne, who is also ACEA’s president, accuse the German carmaker of exploiting the debt crisis
July 29, 2012