Renault Samsung, the South Korean subsidiary of French carmaker Renault, has been targeting the niche markets of liquefied petroleum gas and commercial vehicles in recent months, to promote sales in the face of intensifying competition and a sluggish economy. QM6, a mid-sized sports utility vehicle powered by LPG, has boosted sales in the carmaker’s SUV segment by attracting customers looking for alternatives to diesel-powered SUVs here. Sales of SUVs with diesel engines have lost steam am

Kia Motors said Tuesday its new sport utility vehicle targeted for North American market was named SUV of the year by an auto publication MotorTrend. The magazine also chose Peter Schreyer, president and head of design management of Hyundai Motor Group as the “person of the year.” Kia is a sister company of Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest carmaker.  Describing Telluride as a new flagship SUV that has raised Kia’s profile, the magazine said seven of its 11 judges

A majority of top South Korean companies listed on the nation’s major bourse saw their operating profits fall rapidly in the third quarter on-year over protracted trade disputes and the stagnant global economy, data showed Monday.According to Infobigs, a data analysis unit of Yonhap News Agency, the combined operating profits of 90 affiliates from top 10 conglomerates plummeted 75 percent between July and September to 6.16 trillion won ($5.3 billion) from 25.28 trillion won in the same per

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor ranked No. 1 on a list measuring carmakers’ corporate social responsibility activities in terms of the impact they had on the Chinese community, the company said Monday. According to an index published by the CSR Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Hyundai topped the list for the fourth consecutive year. It also climbed up one notch to fourth place in a separate ranking that listed companies across industries. The research institu

The first all-electric car launched by Mercedes-Benz Korea recently landed here, jumping into the eco-friendly car market which is still small but promising and currently dominated by Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors.Its main design concept “progressive luxury” instantly suggests where the German carmaker is headed, and is enough to excite its fans here with futuristic elements. But the question is: Can the EQC compete with other electric vehicles that have a driving range of h

Samsung Electronics Co.'s first labor union under a major South Korean umbrella union group set sail Saturday.The union, under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), submitted a labor union establishment application to the government Monday and earned the approval two days later.  The union did not unveil the number of its members, but it is known to hover around 500. The union said its first goal is to recruit 10,000 members and that it plans to demand negotiations to the company on

Choi Sun-mok, president and the head of the communications committee at Hanwha Group, was on Thursday named the public relations person of the year by an association of publicists in Korea. Choi was given the award for his work of implementing a series of events including a Hanwha symphony festival and the annual firework festival, the organization said, adding that such events have helped Hanwha raise its profile and expand communication channels with the public.The president also led the compa

Leading luxury retailer of furniture and home accessories Conran Shop announced Thursday the launch of its first outlet in upscale Gangnam District, southern Seoul.In a 10-year partnership with local retail giant Lotte Shopping, the London-based retailer of more than 300 designer brands will offer a unique curation of design classics and future icons. Korea’s lifestyle market has grown nearly 70 percent in in the past decade -- from 7 trillion won ($6 billion) in 2008 to 12 trillion won in

Hyundai Motor said Thursday it will invest $410 million to start production of the Santa Cruz compact sport utility vehicle in the US in 2021. Facilities will be expanded at its plant in Montgomery, Alabama, along with the deployment of related equipment, with the aim of starting sales in the US and Canada in the same year, it added. The investment will create 200 new jobs at the plant and an additional 1,000 at local suppliers and logistics companies supporting Hyundai in Montgomery and the Riv

Koreans’ spending priorities are moving beyond the bare essentials, a survey showed Wednesday, with food, clothes and shelter all losing ground in the number of consumers who list them as their main concern.The basics had dominated South Korean consumers’ priorities, with the vast majority of consumers here listing their top concern as one of food, clothes or housing. Food still topped the most recent survey by the Korea Consumer Agency, with 21 percent of 8,000 respondents list

Asiana’s would-be new owner, Hyundai Development Company is a real estate developer which has been seeking business expansion and diversification in recent years from leisure to retail.Founded as a builder for residential projects in 1976, HDC is part of the pan-Hyundai empire, sharing the family roots that thrived due to former Hyundai Group founder late Chung Ju-yung. The current Chairman Chung Mong-gyu is the son of late Honorary Chairman Chung Se-yung, younger brother to the group

State-run power supplier Korea Electric Power Corp said Monday that it has signed a deal to sell electricity to the Guam Power Authority Pacific for 25 years.Kepco will start providing electricity in October 2022 after building a power plant. Korean builder Hyundai Engineering is set to construct a 200-megawatt combined cycle power plant in the US island territory in August 2020. The commercial operation of the plant will start two years later. A special purpose company in which Kepco holds a 60

The first sport utility vehicle under the Genesis marque will use inverted sound waves for noise control, the first of its kind in the world, Hyundai Motor said Monday.The South Korean carmaker said in a statement that it has applied for a patent for Road-noise Active Noise Control, or RANC, both in the domestic market and the US. With RANC, the internal noise of a vehicle drops 3 decibels, half of what a passenger hears from a regular vehicle, it said. The technology, developed over six ye

Doosan Mobility Innovation, a subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate Doosan Group, has won two awards from the Consumer Electronics Show 2020 for its fuel cell drones that can fly uninterrupted for over two hours, the company said Sunday.DMI received best of innovation award in the category of drones and unmanned systems, for pushing the limit of drones relying on the short lifetime of rechargeable batteries. Drones powered by lithium-ion batteries can fly 20-30 minutes while DMI’s hydrog

The heir to Korea’s largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor, said on Thursday that the company’s future is in driving technology innovation for humanity, stressing its rationale behind works for future mobility. “Cities and mobility services were developed for humans from the very beginning,” said Chung Euisun, executive vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Group at the Mobility Innovators Forum 2019, held in San Francisco.“That’s why we are making a wide range of efforts t

Bidders for the sale of Asiana Airlines, the nation’s second-largest air carrier, threw their hats in the ring Thursday for a last chance, raising market expectations as to the fate of the cash-strapped company. Kumho Industrial has put a 31 percent stake in Asiana Airlines up for sale. Three bidders -- Aekyung Group, Hyundai Development Company and Korea Corporate Governance Improvement -- submitted applications. Kumho and Credit Suisse, the lead manager of the sale, are expected to under

Posco Chairman Choi Jung-woo on Thursday stressed the importance of forging business partnership in nonsteel sectors for the advancement of technology and sustainable future.Highlighting recent changes in the business landscape amid a slowing economy, Choi also said the steelmaker’s plan to expand its role in community is a way of defining its corporate identity.  “Business environment has been deteriorating more than ever with the nation’s slowing economy showing no sign

Han Sung Motor, the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in South Korea, has appointed Han Jong-moon, a former CEO of MFG Korea, as vice president of sales and marketing, the company said Wednesday.Han served as chief operating officer of Han Sung Motor prior to his CEO post at MFG, an operator of local restaurant chains. He has taken charge of the dealer’s sales and marketing since September.  With the appointment, Han Sung Motor expects to strengthen its business, citing Han’s previou

A majority of foreign companies and investors in South Korea feel unsatisfied with the business environment here in general, particularly with labor policies, a lack of local experts for research and development and language barriers, a study showed Wednesday.According to the report from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, only 26.7 percent of foreign companies were “satisfied” with the business environment, the rest answering either “moderate” or “unsatisf

SPC Group, a South Korean bakery and confectionary company that operates 60 brands worldwide, received the best partnership of the year award from the Global Restaurant Leadership Conference, a leading global food service conference, the company said Wednesday.The GRLC is the largest conference in the world for the global food service industry, held annually since 2016. SPC is the first Korean recipient of the award, the company added. The conference awards restaurant brands that excel in the gl