Most Popular
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1 in 3 Koreans live alone, family types becoming diverse
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Korea, Japan finance chiefs vow to tame rampant FX market volatility
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K-pop singer lost consciousness after being hit by foul ball, cancels show
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K-pop group's manager dismissed for setting up spycam in theater dressing room
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Contentious grain bill put directly to plenary meeting for vote
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Korean Muslim YouTuber's plan to build mosque in Incheon goes viral
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Why is Apple Pay struggling to get purchase in Korea?
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Yoon's office denies considering liberal figures for key posts
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Trilateral talks acknowledge ‘serious’ slumps of won, yen
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[Today’s K-pop] BTS pop-up event to come to Seoul
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Female leadership gains ground in auto industry
GM Korea, the Korean unit of U.S.-based General Motors, has the largest number of female executives at 17 among carmakers operating here. The figure compares to none for Hyundai Motor and one for its affiliate Kia Motors ― the two companies that claim almost 80 percent of the nation’s car market. “Investing in women is the right thing to do,” said GM Korea CEO Sergio Rocha. “We promote them not because they wear skirts, but because of their skills and capabilities.”Over the past 10 years in Kore
Nov. 11, 2012
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BMW narrows Mercedes’ lead in U.S.
BMW’s U.S. sales rose 21 percent in October, narrowing the lead of Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz in luxury-auto deliveries this year. Sales for BMW climbed to 26,451 vehicles last month, boosted by a 26 percent gain for its 3-Series. Mercedes yesterday reported a 5.9 percent increase from a year earlier to 23,978, helped by updated versions of the C-Class small sedan. Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus rose 9.7 percent to 19,850.The October results trimmed Mercedes’s lead to 2,748 vehicles, from 5,221 at t
Nov. 4, 2012
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Renault Samsung Motors eyes leap with new midsized sedan SM5
Renault Samsung Motors’s flagship mid-size sedan, the SM5, was introduced in 1998 and has been one of the best-selling models in the segment here. On Friday, the Korean unit of the France-based Renault Group unveiled the New SM5 Platinum, a facelift for the third generation 2010 model. The new SM5 has fresh styling with a new chrome grille and a more voluminous bumper. The overall exterior represents the steady-seller car’s futuristic and dynamic makeover. Especially, the newly-equipped LED head
Nov. 4, 2012
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VW threatens to end GM’s 8-year China lead
After trailing General Motors Co. in China for eight years, Volkswagen AG edged ahead in the third quarter, putting it one step closer to its goal of becoming the world’s biggest automaker. VW’s deliveries in the country jumped 21 percent last quarter, almost triple GM’s growth, to 704,991 vehicles, according to figures the company reported.That beat the 664,765 that GM reported earlier this month. At stake is supremacy in the world’s biggest auto market, which analysts say will likely exceed th
Nov. 4, 2012
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FTAs boost import vehicle sales: KAMA
Korea’s import car industry’s sales growth is rapidly rising mainly thanks to the nation’s free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union, according to a local car industry lobby group.In its report last week, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said that import brands saw their vehicle sales increase by 15.5 percent for the first three quarters of 2012 on a year-on-year basis.Their brisk performance was “on the back of the Korea-EU FTA and the Korea-U.S. FTA,” t
Nov. 4, 2012
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EPA finds Hyundai, Kia overstated gas mileage
Hyundai and Kia, Korea's two biggest automakers, overstated the gas mileage on 900,000 vehicles sold in the past three years, a discovery that could bring sanctions from the U.S. government and millions of dollars in reimbursements to car owners.The inflated mileage was uncovered in an audit of test results by the Environmental Protection Agency, which ordered the Korean automakers to replace fuel economy stickers on the affected cars. The new window stickers will have figures that are one-to-si
Nov. 3, 2012
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Hyundai Motor rating raised by Moody’s on profitability
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp., had their credit ratings upgraded one level by Moody’s Investors Service, citing the carmakers’ profitability and global reach.Ratings on the senior unsecured bonds of the two Seoul- based automakers were raised to Baa1, the third-lowest investment grade, from “Baa2,” Moody’s said in a statement Tuesday. The outlook for the rating, which affects about $2.1 billion in debt, is stable, Moody’s said.The higher c
Oct. 30, 2012
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Current account surplus widens in September
South Korea’s current account surplus widened in September from the previous month as exports expanded at a faster rate than imports, the central bank said Tuesday.The current account surplus reached $6.07 billion in September, up from a revised $2.5 billion in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea. The current account is the broadest measure of cross-border trade.The September figure marked the largest surplus since a record high of $6.14 billion in July.The September surplus marke
Oct. 30, 2012
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Samsung SDI sees Q3 net grow more than 10-fold
Samsung SDI Co., the world’s top maker of plasma display panels and renewable batteries, said Tuesday its net profit jumped more than 10-fold in the third quarter from a year earlier thanks to solid battery sales and a one-off profit.Net profit came to 1.2 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in the July-September period, compared with a profit of 100 billion won the previous year, the company said in a regulatory filing.Sales increased 3.8 percent on-year to 1.5 trillion won in the cited period, while o
Oct. 30, 2012
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Toyota extends global lead over GM on quarterly gain
Toyota Motor Corp.’s worldwide sales grew 18 percent last quarter on U.S. demand for Camry sedans and Prius hybrids and helped Asia’s largest automaker expand its lead over General Motors Co., the global volume leader in 2011. Toyota delivered 2.43 million cars and trucks in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, including subsidiaries Hino Motors Ltd. and Daihatsu Motor Co., up from 2.06 million a year ago, according to figures provided by Yurika Motoyoshi, a company spokeswoman, yesterday. Its sales
Oct. 28, 2012
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BMW 1 Series unrivaled in premium compact class
BMW’s 1 Series, launched back in 2004, has been leading the global market for premium compact vehicles. The first generation, ranging from hatchback styles to coupes and convertibles, has sold more than 1.5 million units globally. BMW Korea, the Korean unit of the German luxury carmaker, recently announced the arrival of the second generation 1 Series here. According to the carmaker, the new offering from BMW combines improved power and efficiency and also boasts an unrivalled amount of space, o
Oct. 28, 2012
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Strikes dent Hyundai Motor's 3Q profit
Hyundai Motor Co. suffered a fall in third quarter profit versus the previous quarter after strikes dented vehicle production.South Korea's largest automaker said Thursday net profit fell 15 percent from the April-June quarter to 2.16 trillion won ($1.96 billion). It was Hyundai's first sequential drop in quarterly profit in a year. The result, which matched forecasts, was still a 13 percent rise over a year earlier. Its operating profit fell 18 percent from the second quarter to 2.05 trillion
Oct. 25, 2012
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Hyundai eyes million-car production in China
BEIJING ― Following territorial disputes between Beijing and Tokyo, the dramatic fall-off in demand for Japanese vehicles has been an unexpected boon for Korea’s Hyundai in the all-important Chinese market. In September, when Toyota Motor Corp. saw its Chinese sales almost halve from a year ago, Hyundai Motor’s sales in China increased by 15 percent to post record sales. Some industry watchers warn the Toyota-led sales slump could drag down the Chinese car market overall. But Hyundai seems more
Oct. 23, 2012
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Renault-Nissan alliance plans to double cost savings by 2016
Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. said they aim to double annual cost savings from their alliance within four years, while denying a Reuters report that they are reviewing their cross-shareholdings. “We have an internal goal of 4 billion euros ($5.2 billion) in synergies in 2016,” Rachel Konrad, an alliance spokeswoman, said by e-mail. “We expect more every year.” The two plan to boost synergies from their partnership to 2.1 billion euros this year from 1.7 billion euros in 2011.Renault is not loo
Oct. 21, 2012
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Premium import car sales set for milestone
Foreign automakers expected to sell 10,000 units priced more than 100 million won in 2012Yearly sales of import cars with a price tag above 100 million won ($90,100) are expected to surpass 10,000 units for the first time in the nation.Amid the brisk sales of premium vehicles despite the economic slowdown, the import automobile industry saw its sales of cars priced more than 100 million reach 8,035 units for the first nine months of 2012, up about 10 percent over the same period last year.Accor
Oct. 21, 2012
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Hyundai, Kia enjoy brisk sales in Europe in Sept.
South Korea’s leading automakers Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. saw steady sales growth in Europe last month despite the region’s contracted demand in the midst of the financial crisis, industry data showed Thursday.Hyundai and Kia, the flagship companies of Hyundai Motor Group, sold a combined 73,000 units in September in 27 European countries, up 3.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data.Their market share rose 0.9 percentage points to 6.6 percent last month.For the first nine
Oct. 18, 2012
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Gov't mulls extending tax break on diesel for e-trade
The government is moving to extend various incentives for diesel imports that are traded electronically in a move to further stabilize energy prices that might have a large impact on overall consumer prices, market observers said Thursday.They said the government has already decided to extend the incentives until the end of next year. Most of the incentives, which include a full tax exemption, as
Oct. 18, 2012
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Ford board said to deliberate on Mulally successor
Ford Motor Co.’s board discussed a succession plan for chief executive officer Alan Mulally at its monthly meeting on Friday, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The board is preparing to promote Mark Fields to chief operating officer from president of the Americas as part of a plan to have him eventually succeed Mulally, said the person, who asked not to be named revealing board deliberations. Such a move would make clear the succession plan at the second-largest U.S. automaker
Oct. 14, 2012
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Toyota learned of window defect before recall
Toyota Motor Corp. first learned in 2008 about a defect in power-window switches that last week prompted it to recall 7.43 million vehicles worldwide for fire hazards, according to documents filed with U.S. regulators. Toyota, based in Toyota City, Japan, received a report in September 2008 from the U.S. about “an unusual smell” from the power-window master switch and “thermal damage” to the switch, the company said in a report posted Friday on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administra
Oct. 14, 2012
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Honda’s record sales led by new compacts in emerging markets
Honda Motor Co. president Takanobu Ito forecast growth over the next two to three years will be led by sales of its range of new Fit vehicles as Japan’s third- biggest automaker expands in emerging markets. “We will see the good uplifting effect from the Fit series,” Ito, 59, said Friday in an interview at his Tokyo office, where Honda’s spaceman-like Asimo robot greets visitors by name. “So around the world, I believe 2013, 2014, 2015 will be years of growth.” Ito’s focus on the Fit, a vehicle
Oct. 14, 2012