General Motors Co., boosting the reliability of Cadillac and Chevrolet models, had its best performance ever in J.D. Power & Associates’ new-car quality survey, with three of four brands above the industry average.Toyota Motor Corp.’s Lexus luxury line topped the survey for the second consecutive year and its namesake brand ranked eighth. Honda Motor Co. had the highest-rated mainstream brand at No. 5, one spot ahead of its Acura luxury line. Jaguar leaped 18 spots to a tie for second with Porsc

Local and import brands’ vehicle sales in Korea are projected to fall by 2.1 percent in 2012, compared to the previous year, an automotive research center said Thursday.In its second-half outlook on the world’s vehicle market, the Korea Automobile Research Institute predicted that global companies will see the pace of sales growth “slow down markedly.”Affected by the weaker consumer sentiment globally, the local market will see “the number of vehicle sales stay about 1.55 million units this year

South Korean stocks fell 0.79 percent Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve failed to announce new economic stimulus measures to fuel growth of the world’s largest economy, analysts said. The local currency dipped against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index gave up 14.97 points to close at 1,889.15. Trading volume was light at 369 million shares worth 3.72 trillion won ($3.23 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 421 to 402.“The Fed’s plan to maintain its current

The Chung Mong-koo Foundation of Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday that it will accept applications from college students for a tuition fee loan program, which offers low interest rates.“For the second semester, students will be allowed to enjoy college loans with interest rates that range between 0 and 3 percent per annum,” the automotive group said in a statement.The program is designed to support students struggling with high-interest loans from the secondary banking sector or private moneyl

Oriental Brewery Co. said Wednesday it has appointed Jang In-soo, the company’s deputy chief executive, as CEO.Jang, who took office as the top decision-maker on the same day, has taken the initiative to overtake Hite-Jinro in the local beer market since he was named the deputy CEO in charge of sales in January 2010, OB said in a statement. “We’ve captured 54.5 percent of the market while Hite-Jinro’s share stood at 45.5 percent,” a company spokeswoman said.“We surpassed Hite-Jinro for the eight

KB Financial Group has been chosen as the No. 1 local company for corporate governance for 2012 by the Corporate Governance Service.The CGS named the nine best companies in corporate governance on Tuesday, and KB Financial topped the list, outperforming the 2011 champion POSCO and 2011’s second-best player KT&G.The yearly assessment by the private research institute monitoring corporate activities includes sectors such as governance, social responsibility and the environment.In particular, KB Fi

Automaker officials foresee alliance after developing their own technologiesChances are growing in the automotive industry that Hyundai Motor could eventually be backed by factories of Samsung Electronics for its car-oriented semiconductor business in about a year.Officials of the two big companies have seemingly not ruled out the feasibility of their comprehensive partnership for what industry analysts call a lucrative car-semiconductor business.Hyundai Motor executives appear to be more positi

Seoul shares fell 0.71 percent on Friday in the face of rising European uncertainties ahead of Greece’s critical elections and mixed U.S. economic data, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index moved down 13.32 points to 1,858.16 after a choppy session. Trading volume was light at 4.26 million shares worth 4.46 trillion won ($3.83 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 486 to 344.“Investor sentiment was dented by mounting eur

Hyundai Oilbank has pulled out of its plans to carry out an initial public offering on the Korea Exchange, citing economic uncertainties at home and abroad.“We’ve decided to withdraw from the plan in the wake of the eurozone fiscal crisis and worsening investor sentiment on the local stock market,” a company spokesman said.The company plans to push for the listing again when it finds optimum timing later.Hyundai Oilbank had planned to complete the IPO process during the first half of the year.An

Korea’s ratio of household debt to gross domestic product has exceeded the average figure held by members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.According to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio reached 81 percent, surpassing 73 percent of the OECD average.The level is quite serious as it is similar to the ratio (85 percent) of Spain which is suffering from a financial crisis and far exceeding that (61 percent) of Greece, one of th

Hankook seeks new growth engine; Kumho strives to resume  building U.S. plantThe nation’s two largest tire manufacturers ― Hankook and Kumho ― are preparing for stiffer competition at home and sales battles with global players overseas.Though the companies had to delay investment and a variety of projects, their recent painstaking efforts to improve their financial status and management structure have been highly evaluated in the market.Kumho Tire, which has been under joint control of creditor

South Korean stocks gained 0.65 percent Thursday as investors remained calm in the face of mounting eurozone woes and took a wait-and-see stance ahead of the Greek elections, analysts said. The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index, after a choppy session, moved up 12.16 points to 1,871.48. Trading volume was light at 4.14 million shares worth 4.77 trillion won ($4.09 billion), with gainers outpacing losers 432 to 379.“The downgrading of Spai

The nation’s automobile sector has refuted claims by some European car industry leaders that Korean carmakers are enjoying huge benefits under the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement.On the contrary, a greater beneficiary of the bilateral FTA ― which took effect on July 1, 2011 ― is the European counterpart, the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association said Wednesday.KAMA clarified that the trade pact offers little benefit in terms of tariff elimination to the automobile sector, highlighting the man

Ssangyong Motor’s labor and management have reached an agreement on offering several benefits to unpaid workers in their leaves of absence, the company said Tuesday.As key support for the employees on unpaid leave, the automaker will provide them with school expenses for their children, according to Ssangyong.The company will also offer 150 shares, issued by the company, per unpaid worker.In addition, the unpaid employees will be given some gifts during the nation’s traditional holidays such as

South Korean stocks gained 0.25 percent Wednesday on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve may announce new stimulus measures to bolster growth, analysts said.The local currency rose against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index moved up 4.58 points to 1,859.32. Trading volume was moderate at 5.38 million shares worth 3.73 trillion won ($3.19 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 423 to 381.“Forecasts that the U.S. will push forward additional quantitative easing to s

Group to see production  capacity grow by 26%  in next few weeksHyundai Motor Group is speeding up its mid-term project to overtake General Motors in vehicle sales in China by expanding its manufacturing capacity.Though Volkswagen maintains the No. 1 position in the Chinese market, the sales gap between GM and Hyundai Motor-Kia Motors has narrowed.Last year, GM ranked second with vehicle sales of 1.32 million units and Hyundai-Kia ranked third with 1.17 million units. Volkswagen saw its 2011 sal

South Korean stocks fell 0.66 percent Tuesday after investors expressed disappointment over Spain’s bailout plans and concerns mounted over upcoming Greek elections, analysts said. The local currency fell against the U.S. dollar.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index lost 12.30 points to 1,854.74. Trading volume was light at 404 million shares worth 5.59 trillion won ($4.77 billion), with losers outpacing gainers 441 to 361.“The market backtracked as investors expressed concerns that th

Moody’s Investors Service predicted Monday that KakaoTalk operator’s launch of a free phone-call service will negatively affect the credit ratings of the nation’s two major telecommunication operators.“The launch of VoiceTalk is credit negative for our rated Korean telecommunication operators, SK Telecom (SKT, A3 negative) and KT (A3 negative),” the global rating firm said in a statement.Its view comes a week after Kakao, the Korean operator of popular multi-platform texting application KakaoTal

South Korea’s securities brokerage industry has been a big underperformer for the past year, buffeted by the resurfacing of the European debt crisis and other negative factors, data showed Sunday.The return on the brokerage sector’s subindex stood at minus 30.6 percent during the past year, the third-worst record after minus 32.6 percent for medical and precision machines and minus 31.9 percent for chemicals, according to the data by the Korea Exchange, the local bourse operator.In addition, the

The government split up the rail sector’s management of infrastructure and transport services in 2005, judging that a single national railway firm would not be able to meet the demand for better products. Under the reform, the Transportation Ministry put about 80 percent of Korea’s railway stations under the ownership of state-run Korea Railroad Corp., which also operates railway services, as a form of investment-in-kind.About seven years on, the ministry is seeking to retrieve that ownership, s