AD Motors, a local electric car manufacturer, said it has begun exporting the Change electric car to Japan.The company had signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the issue with Japan’s Autorex on March 31. Change electric car. (AD Motors)Under the contract, Autorex will import Change vehicles to Japan, and the Nippon Automobile Fair Certificate Association will be responsible for marketing

Korean carmakers have come a long way since the days of the Hyundai Pony, the first locally developed automobile to be exported.The days of being widely perceived as makers of cheap but unreliable vehicles are long gone with overseas surveys and consumer research showing vast improvements in their quality rankings.Despite such developments, local carmakers’ design capabilities appeared to be laggi

Makgeolli, Korean rice wine, contains up to 25 times more farnesol, a compound with anti-tumor properties, research showed Thursday.Farnesol is an alcohol found in a number of substances including essential oils. Research has shown that farnesol has potent anti-tumor properties even in concentrations as low as 5 milligrams per liter.In the latest research, a team led by Korea Food Research Institu

Renault Samsung Motors Co. appointed senior executive managing director Frederic Artaud as the new head of its Sales and Marketing Division on Thursday. Frederic ArtaudBefore the appointment Artaud had been heading the company’s marketing activities since May 2008 within the Sales and Marketing Division.The company said that Artaud was given the new post as part of its reorganization measures aime

The terrestrial broadcaster MBC stopped providing KT SkyLife with high-definition content Thursday, as the two failed to narrow differences over fees for re-broadcasting MBC programs.KT SkyLife is a satellite broadcaster affiliated to the country’s largest fixed-line telecom services provider KT Corp.Following MBC’s move, SkyLife is now broadcasting standard-definition MBC programs for its 620,000

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo (right) greets Banca Sandanter’s chairman Emilio Botin at the carmaker’s office in Seoul on Wednesday. (Hyundai Motor Group)Hyundai Motor Group will set up auto-financing firms in Brazil and the U.K. in collaboration with Spain-based Banco Santander.Banco Santader is Europe’s largest commercial bank with more than 86 million customers. Hyundai Motor chai

Foreign carmakers made relatively small donations to social causes despite massive improvements in financial figures, data showed Wednesday.According to regulatory filings from the country’s top three foreign carmakers ― BMW Korea, Mercedes-Benz Korea and Audi Volkswagen Korea ― their sales and profits saw significant improvements from 2009.BMW Korea was the top-performing foreign carmaker last ye

Shinsegae Corp.’s new premium outlet in Paju, north of Seoul, could face government restrictions after smaller retailers protested that it hurts their businesses.The Small and Medium Business Administration launched an inquiry on Monday to determine the scale of damage sustained by small- and medium-sized discount outlets in the area since Shinsegae Chelsea opened on March 18.The smaller stores cl

Hyundai Motor Group’s steelmaker Hyundai Steel broke ground for the third blast furnace at its integrated steelworks in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province on Tuesday.The company is injecting 3.26 trillion won ($2.89 billion) into the project, which is scheduled for completion in September 2013.The furnace will have an annual production capacity of 4 million metric tons, pushing the facility’s out

Korea Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon discussed the stalled free trade negotiations with his Chinese counterpart Chen Deming during their meeting in Beijing on Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. The meeting raised expectations for the two governments to put their FTA negotiations on a fast track. Seoul and Beijing began preliminary government-level talks in September but made lit

Financial services provider Hyundai Capital admitted Sunday that financial information including the credit ratings of some customers had been accessed by a hacker.Those responsible for the incident are thought to have accessed the company’s auxiliary server since February and hacked data in small portions to avoid detection. In addition, passwords and other vital information about loans taken out

Hyundai Heavy Industries announced Sunday that it completed building the world’s largest gas-powered power station in Saudi Arabia.Located in Jubail in Eastern Saudi Arabia, the plant was built as part of a $2.7 billion contract for a power and desalination plant issued by the state-run utilities firm Marafiq in 2007. The contract was awarded to an international consortium composed of Hyundai Heav

Nissan Korea is offering special financing programs on the Altima+ sedan and the crossover utility vehicle Murano until the end of the month.With the Altima+ 3.5 and the Murano, the company is offering a 36-month interest-free installment program with 35 percent of the price paid up front. AltimaFor the Murano, the company will also provide a 4 million won ($3,700) fuel voucher to those making the

Kia Motors Corp. is offering free checkups to mark its exports hitting over 10 million units on March 23. As part of the event, the company will be offering checkups to Kia owners living on major islands scattered along the coast of the country, including Ullenung island in the East Sea, until May 19. Starting Tuesday, the company will check the air conditioning systems fitted in Kia vehicles used

Hanbul Motors, Korea’s official Peugeot importer and distributor, is offering a special financing scheme on the 207GT during April to mark the model’s global sales breaking the 2 million mark.Until the end of the month, those purchasing the vehicle can choose between a 24-month interest-free installment program or a lease financing scheme. Peugeot 207GTUsing the zero-interest installment program,

Hyundai Motor Group announced Sunday that its two carmakers signed a memorandum of understanding with NHN Corp. to collaborate in the field of automotive information technology and telematics.NHN is the operator of the country’s top search engine Naver. Combining telecommunications and informatics, telematics for automobiles refers to the application of wireless telecommunications tools including

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. announced Wednesday that it signed a contract to supply eight wind-power generators to a Finnish power company.According to Hyundai Heavy, this is the first time a Korean company has been contracted to supply wind-power generating equipment to a European country. Under the contract, Hyundai Heavy will deliver eight 2-megawatt wind-power generators to Finnish Power to b

LSIS, a local electric equipment manufacturer, is taking part in the Hannover Messe exhibition as it gears up to expand its global operations, the company said Wednesday.The company said that its exhibits at the show, which is held in Hannover, Germany until Friday, includes power control and automation products, and green business solutions such as electric car chargers, and solar energy solution

Latest products from Korea’s top auto parts maker turn heads at Seoul Motor ShowHyundai Mobis Co., South Korea’s largest automobile parts manufacturer, is grabbing the limelight at the Seoul Motor Show with its latest products emphasizing environmental and human values as well as technological edge. The event is underway at the KINTEX exhibition center in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on the largest s

While the U.S. is a major market for financial investors across the world, its complex financial laws represent a major hurdle for those looking to invest in the country. For the New York-based law firm Kirby McInerney LLP, which specializes in complex commercial litigations, that blind spot offers handsome opportunities for business with largely Asian investors who need help to navigate through i