As the wave of electrification reaches sports cars, the race is heating up among global brands to push the performance boundaries of the relatively new powertrain. In Korea, the competition is to intensify with Audi set to challenge the Porsche Taycan with its e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT. Before the official launch of the two cars, The Korea Herald had the chance to take them for a short test drive on a course involving substantial speed and a slalom test at Seoul Grand Park in Gwacheon, Gyeo

Over 71,000 units of electric vehicles have been sold in South Korea so far this year, nearly doubling the previous year’s record, a market data showed. According to Korea Automotive Technology Institute, the accumulated domestic sales of EVs up to the end of September came in at 71,006 units, compared to the 36,268 units sold during the corresponding period last year. The domestic sales volume places South Korea as No. 7 globally, Katech said. The world’s No. 1 market, up to

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff discussed measures to increase cooperation between the United States and South Korea in various industries that seek innovation, AmCham said Friday. AmCham’s delegation met with the American senator on Thursday during his weeklong trip to Seoul and conveyed the organization’s mission to promote the growth of US businesses in Korea as well as investment in the US by Korean companies, AmCham said. The

General Motors Korea will be launching 10 new electric vehicles for the South Korean market by 2025, General Motors International President Steven Kiefer said Friday. The vehicles will range from entry-level to high-performance models, he said. Kiefer, who is also a senior vice president at GM, said competitiveness and profitability are key to sustaining business in Korea and stressed the importance of the Korean market for the global automotive company, during the GM Future Growth Virtual Pre

The Korea Automotive Technology Institute, or Katech, has agreed to work together with the UK-based automotive consultancy firm Horiba Mira on the early commercialization of autonomous vehicles, the agency said Friday. Katech Director Heo Nam-yong and Horiba Mira’s Chief Commercial Officer Roisin Hopkins agreed to pursue joint research and development on future vehicle technologies, signing a partnership agreement at the Horiba Mira headquarters in Nuneaton, England, Thursday (Greenwich

BUSAN -- While factories usually have one flagship item manufactured on one assembly line to maximize productivity, Renault Samsung Motors’ Busan automotive plant has increased competitiveness by making its lines able to produce more than one. With the versatile assembly line, the Busan plant is in fully geared up to boost exports of Renault Samsung’s global flagship sport utility vehicle XM3, known as Arkana overseas, said Lee Hae-jin, director at Renault Samsung Motors’ man

The automotive semiconductor shortage is expected to continue until 2023, and the government and related industries should be prepared to handle rising demand, an automotive think tank said Monday. According to the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, or Katech, the global shortage of automotive semiconductors that started around the end of 2020 will continue to affect the global car industry for the first half of 2022. Even after 2023, some companies may still feel its effects. This year

South Korea’s antitrust regulator on Friday approved a plan by E-mart, Shinsegae Group’s hypermarket chain, to acquire the Korean unit of eBay, judging that the acquisition will not restrain market competition. The Fair Trade Commission said the agency evaluated whether or not the acquisition would violate the country’s monopoly regulations, and to see if the companies would hamper competition in five sectors of the retail industry, including the e-commerce market, physical re

South Korea’s business sentiment edged down in November due to increased prices of raw materials and energy, a local think tank said Friday. The business survey index of the country’s top 600 companies by sales stood at 100.6, down by 2.8 percentage points from 103.4 in October, the Korea Economic Research Institute data showed. According to KERI, while the figure managed to stay above the 100-threshold that shows optimists outnumbered pessimists, the 2.8-point decrease reflects c

Korean steelmakers witnessed their highest-ever profits in the third quarter this year, backed by strong sales due to surging steel prices. On Thursday, Hyundai Steel announced a 2,374 percent jump in operating profit to 826.2 billion won ($705 million) for the July-September period via a regulatory filing. Consolidated sales increased by 31.3 percent on-year to reach 5.86 trillion won, while the operating profit margin also increased to a record two-digit score of 14.1 percent, the company

Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts making affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group, has adopted a “Green Acceleration” strategy to promote environmentally friendly business management for future generations and the Earth, the company said Wednesday. According to Hyundai Mobis, it is working to reduce carbon emissions while managing harmful substances in the overall process of manufacturing, to maximize the positive effects to support the environment. Already having a portfolio of core auto p

With South Korea’s economic engine sputtering, the country’s potential growth rate may fall to zero in the following decade, a study showed Wednesday. According to research published by the Korea Economic Research Institute, most of the country’s macroeconomic indicators on production, consumption and investment cast a gloomy outlook. The country’s potential growth rate -- the maximum rate Asia’s fourth-largest economy could grow without triggering inflation --

The world is talking about green energy to slash emissions and curb climate change. But without a drastic cut in the consumption of plastic and other waste, a net-zero economy just won’t happen, an environmental expert urged Tuesday. Speaking at the fourth Korea Herald Biz Forum on Tuesday, Hong Su-yeol, head of Resource Recycle Consulting, said the world needs to transition to a circular economy in which resources are used again and again in a closed loop and create no waste at all. &

Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun vowed to cooperate with the Indonesian government in establishing an electric vehicle ecosystem there, during his visit to the Southeast Asian country on Monday. Attending a government briefing event -- “Future EV Ecosystem for Indonesia” -- Chung presented the future vision of his automotive group and plans to cooperate with the Indonesian government to expand its business there, according to Hyundai Motor. “Hyundai Motor Group wil

Edison Motors will ask for a loan of some 700 billion to 800 billion won ($596 million-$681 million) from Korea Development Bank to acquire the troubled SsangYong Motor, its chief executive officer said Friday. The electric bus maker-led consortium looks set to be chosen as the preferred bidder for the debt-ridden SsangYong, after a bankruptcy court eliminated its strong contender from the competition, citing doubts over its funding capability. Holding an online press conference, Edison Moto

Edison Motors, a little-known electric bus manufacturer, seems likely to emerge as the preferred bidder for SsangYong Motor, South Korea’s longest-running car brand, which has experienced debt troubles in recent years. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court said a consortium led by Edison Motors is the only remaining bidder, effectively making it the preferred buyer. Its competitor, another consortium led by EV firm Electrical Life Business and Technology, was excluded from the list as it failed

Among major Korean conglomerates, Kumho Group has been under the microscope of Korea’s Fair Trade Commission the most, a lawmaker revealed Wednesday. According to data submitted by the FTC to Rep. Kim Hee-gon of the main opposition People Power Party, the state-run antitrust watchdog’s Business Group Bureau in charge of overseeing company irregularities has conducted 10 investigations into Kumho over the past four years. Since September of 2017 when the bureau was established up

South Korean steelmaker Posco has succeeded in locally producing special steel pipes for hydrogen transportation and will supply them for the first time to the city of Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, the company said Tuesday. Until now, South Korea has relied on imported, small-caliber seamless steel pipes with a width about 15 centimeters for hydrogen transportation. Bigger pipes, as wide as 20 centimeters, are needed to carry the big volume of hydrogen transfer needed in the hydrogen test bed ci

Hyundai Glovis, the logistics arm of Hyundai Motor Group, is joining hands with Air Products & Chemicals, a US-based industrial gas manufacturer, to speed up the development of a liquefied hydrogen supply chain, the company said Tuesday. Hyundai Glovis CEO Kim Jung-hoon signed the supply chain agreement during a videoconference with Air Products & Chemicals Asia President Wilbur Mok as well as Korea unit CEO Kim Kyo-young. “We expect a great synergy from the partnership, a

Some 247,000 sole proprietors have lost jobs amid prolonged social distancing regulations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Monday. According to Yonhap News Agency’s analysis, 247,000 people who were self-employed in mid-September last year lost their jobs and fell into the category of the unemployed and economically inactive within the past 12 months. The report defines unemployed as those who are able and willing to work and who have been in search of a job but unable