DAEGU -- Renault Samsung Motors, the Korean unit of the French carmaker, on Thursday introduced the new full-electric vehicle, SM3 Z.E., as part of its strategy to tap into the new market of green cars here. The presentation was made by the group‘s Senior Vice President Gilles Normand at Daegu International Future Auto Expo held for four days from Wednesday at Daegu EXPO. As Korea’s only sub mid-sized EV sedan, SM3 Z.E. represents the most luxurious model among all EVs sold by Renault, incorpora

Ask a Lawyer is a regular column written by attorneys at Yoon & Yang LLC on various legal aspects of the Korean life or business. The content provided here is general legal information, not legal advice on a specific situation. -- Ed.　 (123rf)Q. If a local Korean subsidiary of a global corporation is considered as an independent “importer,” a lower customs value is accepted compared to the case where the local subsidiary is considered as a mere “branch” of the global corporation. How can a local

스웨덴의 볼보트럭이 삼성과 전기트럭 상용화에 필요한 “차세대 배터리” 개발 논의 중이라고 볼보트럭 사장 클라스 닐슨이 코리아헤럴드와 인터뷰에서 밝혔다.　지난 15일, 기자간담회차 서울을 방문한 그는, 본지와의 인터뷰에서 “삼성과 배터리 개발을 위한 협력을 이전부터 해왔다”며, 현재는 “차세대 배터리 (future-generation batteries)를 개발하기 위한 (삼성과) 논의를 하고 있다”고 말했다. 클라스 닐슨 볼보트럭 CEO (사진=볼보트럭코리아)이는 탄소배출 저감과 자율주행등 기존 상용차의 패러다임을 바꾸기 위한 볼보트럭의 미래 전략중 하나. 현재 볼보트럭은 전기트럭의 컨셉만 공개한 상태다. 상용화를 위해서는 차체와 화물의 무게를 견디면서 에너지 효율을 낼 수 있는 배터리가 관건으로 알려져 있다. 　“현재 우리는 (볼보 그룹) 순수 전기로 움직이는 전기버스을 개발 시켰지만, 앞으로는 역시 순수 전기로 가동되는 트럭도 만들 계획”이라며 “한국의 기업들은 반도체와 배터리 분

Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo Trucks is in discussion with Samsung to develop future-generation batteries in order to commercialize trucks powered by electricity, its chief said in Seoul on Wednesday.In an interview with The Korea Herald, Claes Nilsson, president of Volvo Trucks, said the company has been in talks with the South Korean tech giant to introduce electric trucks, which are part of what the company envisions for a “greener” future. Claes Nilsson, president of Volvo Trucks, speaks

Hyundai Motor will be leading a world coalition of businesses promoting hydrogen as a future energy source, the company said Tuesday. The automaker was named the chair company of the Hydrogen Council, a global initiative of leading energy and transport companies to promote hydrogen as a solution of the energy transition. Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Yang Woong-chul was also appointed as a rotating chairman of the 28-member council. He succeeds Takeshi Uchiyamada, chairman of Toyota Motor Corp. Ya

The sales growth rate of Louis Vuitton has backtracked this year at the nation’s major department stores, losing its market prestige as one of the most desired luxury brands, industry sources said Monday. A Louis Vuitton retail shop in Korea (Yonhap)According to market insiders, sales of the French luxury brand at a department store between January and October slipped 5.3 percent from the same period last year, while that of its rival luxury brands, Chanel and Hermes, rose 11.2 percent and 16.5

Hyundai Motor Group, the nation’s largest carmaker, invited more than 300 foreign students from 90 countries for trips to its manufacturing plants and design studio.As part of an annual event titled “2017 Global Friendship Tour,” students enrolled at seven Korean colleges toured Hyundai Motor’s Asan plant, Kia Motors’ Hwaseong plant and Hyundai Steel’s plant in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province. They also visited Hyundai Motor Studio in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, a venue set up to promote the

South Korea’s financial regulator will require all listed companies here to disclose their governance structure to the investing public, as part of efforts to improve management transparency, its head said Thursday. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, also said that his organization plans to provide incentives to institutional investors who adopt a Korean-version of Stewardship Code, a set of principle aimed at improving their voting rights. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the

A group representing Korean businesses on Wednesday told close aides to US President Donald Trump about the firms’ investment plans worth some $17.3 billion for the US, highlighting that it will ease the trade imbalance between the two countries.At a meeting hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, around 10 executives from the top major companies in Korea met with senior staff of the White House including Dina Powell, deputy national security adviser for strategy, and Everett Eisse

With bilateral tension showing signs of easing between Seoul and Beijing, Kia Motors, a sister company to Hyundai Motor, has released an upgraded Forte subcompact in China, the company said Wednesday.A trilateral venture among Kia, Yueda and Dongfen has unveiled the New Forte at a Hyundai Motor Group R&D center in Yentai, China, on Tuesday with local dealers and officials attending. The 1.6-liter subcompact sedan is equipped with a six-speed automatic or manual transmission as well as a voice-re

Hyundai Rotem, a train manufacturing unit of Hyundai Motor Group, has won a deal worth 177 billion won ($159 million) to provide unmanned subway cars to India, the company said Tuesday.Under the deal, the South Korean company plans to deliver a total of 96 subway cars to the Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, between April 2019 and July 2020. (Yonhap)The subway cars will be operated on the 20.7-kilometer route that connects the east and west regions of Ahmedaba province in the cou

A total of 56,084 vehicles by companies including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Toyota will be recalled to fix defective parts, officials at the Transport Ministry said Tuesday. Mercedes-Benz Korea, local importer and distributor of the German luxury car, has recalled 323 vehicles including GLC 22d compact SUVs sold here between 2016 and 2017. They will be subject for the replacement of front and rear window as the parts are loosely attached, the ministry said. (Yonhap)Four Volkswagen models including

The head of HanSung Motor, the largest dealer of Mercedes-Benz in South Korea, gave a special lecture on marketing and branding of luxury cars at Yonsei University’s Songdo Campus, the company said Tuesday.Dr. Ulf Ausprung who has led HanSung Motor since 2011 introduced data on Korea’s luxury car market in general and marketing strategies being targeted for the local market, they added. HanSung Motor CEO Dr. Ulf Ausprung gives a lecture at Yonsei University’s Songdo Campus on Monday. (HanSung Mo

Hyundai Motor has established a startup incubator in Israel to expand cooperation with budding enterprises in the Middle East nation that has shown strength in technology development in future mobility in recent years. The plan also includes “massive investment” in Israeli startups to be delivered in various formats, including making direct investments and seeking partnerships with venture capital firms, the carmaker said Thursday. The size of investment was not disclosed. Chi Young-cho, vice pr

The head of the nation’s antitrust watchdog told the leaders of the five top conglomerates on Thursday that the nature of their nonprofit foundations would be tested as part of the new government’s chaebol reform. “We will check whether the foundations for public welfare under large businesses are operating the way they are supposed to, and seek ways to limit their voting rights,” said Kim Sang-jo, chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, while meeting CEOs from Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor

Hyundai Motor Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun looks at an art installment displayed at Hyundai Motor Studio in Beijing, Wednesday. (Hyundai Motor)After suffering major losses from a Seoul-Beijing diplomatic spat, Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun while visiting Beijing said he expects improved ties between the two countries would bring a positive impact to the carmaker’s operation there, officials said Wednesday.“I expect to see a positive impact (from the improved ties). Taking this o

Park Yong-maan, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Industry and Commerce urged businesses on Wednesday to seek growth strategies for the future first, rather than raising voices against the government to lift regulatory hurdles. KCCI Chairman Park Yong-maan speaks at a conference in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)At a meeting with heads of KCCI’s regional branches in Daejeon, Park also stressed that they should embrace the recent change in the job market driven by the Moon Jae-in government, calling

Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s assets could be subject to taxes if irregularities are found since he was investigated in 2008 for illegalities, the chief of the nation’s financial regulator said Monday.At a parliamentary audit session Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission, told lawmakers that the regulator will review traces of 4.4 trillion won ($3.9 billion) in assets that had been kept under accounts registered with borrowed names. The authorities, in cooperation with the

A picture of President Moon Jae-in kneeling to pay his respect to the dead during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement ceremony went viral online this year. It became a talked about issue not just because the ceremony was held a week after the presidential election, but because of a pair of the president’s old shoes that were exposed to cameras. The shoes that Moon has worn since 2012 were made by a small social enterprise set up by the blind and the hearing-impaired. But even with Cheong

For Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, it all started with one question. For years, the second-generation chaebol scion was seeking a way to inherit his father’s legacy of nurturing scientists and scholars for the nation’s future. Though SK was making social donations and running corporate responsibility programs under his lead, Chey wasn’t sure whether those outreach efforts -- worth billions of dollars a year -- were making any progress in society, where problems of unemployment and the incom