The Korean auto industry is gearing up in Busan this week as the nation’s second biggest city will host the 2016 International Busan Motor Show at BEXCO from June 2 for a 10-day run.Under the slogan “Inspiring Technology Making Waves in the Future,” the biennial motor festival in Korea will showcase about 230 vehicles from 25 domestic and foreign brands, the motor show’s organizing committee said in a press release last week.Genesis G80 (world premiere)Visitors to the auto show will have a chanc

The Korean unit of General Motors will host a premiere night to draw more attention to its new car lineup for the Busan Motor Show on June 1, one day before the official media preview.The carmaker has remained low-key on which cars will take the stage at the premiere event “GM night,” but industry watchers predict GM Korea CEO James Kim will highlight three models from its Chevrolet and Cadillac brands. Cadillac’s new CT6 full-size luxury sedan (GM)For the mass market, GM is forecast to unveil t

Officials from Hyundai Motor Group, World Vision and state-run international aid agency KOICA take part in a groundbreaking ceremony to build an auto mechanical training center in Ethiopia, Friday. The project is part of Kia Motors’ vocational education support program in Africa, dubbed the “Green Light Project.” Participants included World Vision’s Edward Brown (from left), KOICA head Kim In-shik, Ethiopian First Lady Roman Tesfaye, Hyundai Motor President Chung Jin-haeng and Kia Motors vice pr

The Korean unit of German luxury carmaker BMW is set to unveil its five new models in Korea at the 2016 Busan International Motor Show slated to kick off on June 2, according to the automaker on Sunday. The automaker said it would showcase one flagship model 750Li Individual, two high-performance cars -- M2 Coupe and X4 M40i -- and two plug-in hybrid vehicles -- 330e M Sport and X5 xDrive40e -- at the upcoming biennial auto event. BMW M2 CoupeIts flagship 750Li Individual sedan is limited editio

Given the 2016 Busan Motor Show’s “smart premium” theme, Renault Samsung said Sunday that it would be showcasing three new vehicles at the event: the QM6, a revamped version of the QM5 sport utility vehicle, the Twizy electric smart car and the Renault Clio R.S. -- all of which are slated to be rolled out here in the second half of this year. “We are confident that the high-end QM6 SUV will wow visitors as it is the only fully modified SUV model among mass-produced car brands this year,” the com

The state-run Korea Electric Power Co., the nation’s largest utility giant, was ranked 97th for 2016 in an annual ranking of the top 2,000 public companies in the world, released by Forbes, a U.S. business magazine. The surveyor said the ranking was based on a mix of four metrics -- sales, profit, assets and market value.It is the first time for KEPCO to enter the top 100 list in the survey. The firm was ranked 197th last year. In addition, the Korean utility giant topped in the electric utility

Korea will select a site for an underground storage facility to permanently dispose spent nuclear fuel, or high-level radioactive waste, by 2028 and complete the construction of the facility by 2053, according to the first roadmap for the project released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Wednesday. “A further delay in building the facility will put a drag on future generations, considering the saturation level of interim storage units located in the nuclear power complexes nation

Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday unveiled its luxury mid-size business saloon, the new E-class, at a media preview event at Wangsan Marina, Incheon, setting a goal of taking the top spot in sales here in 2016. The Korean unit of the German luxury carmaker has high hopes for the 10th generation of its best-selling luxury mid-size executive sedan. The new E-Class is the best in the segment in terms of performance, consumption and efficiency, the company added.  Mercedes-Benz Korea CEO Dimitris Psillakis p

There are a couple of things in common among Ssangyong Motor’s Tivoli Air, Renault Samsung’s SM6 and GM Korea’s all-new Malibu. They are new cars gaining high attention in the market from the preorder stage and they have also adopted steel sheets made by POSCO for their car bodies.“The growing popularity of the new cars by the three Korean automakers this year gives a boost to sales of the company’s high value-added automotive steel products,” a POSCO spokesperson said. POSCO chairman Kwon Oh-jo

Mobile app-driven new businesses are budding in the automotive after sales and service market, drawing the attention of investors focusing on start-ups, and the car wash business is no exception. The car wash sector in Korea, which is crowded with small players, has recently seen a resurgence as an online-to-offline business.“An O2O car wash mobile application, matching an offline service provider with a customer regardless of time and place, tremendously saves the customers’ time without any ad

The market was unnerved Thursday with the report by a management consultancy firm that proposed restructuring state-run Korea National Oil Corp.’s money-losing overseas crude oil development business. The report by Deloitte Anjin -- Korean member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu -- on reforms in the overseas businesses of state-run energy companies was commissioned by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.The offshore oil drilling facility of Dana Petroleum, the U.K. explorer focusing on th

Korea’s financial watchdog said Wednesday it is likely to report steel-making giant Dongbu Group founder and chairman Kim Jun-ki to the prosecution for insider trading charges.“The authorities have been looking into stock trading records of the tycoon to figure out whether he conducted unfair transactions based on insider information about faltering Dongbu Engineering & Construction,’’ an official from Financial Supervisory Service said, adding the case will be referred to the prosecution if the

A female model poses inside the 2016 Rolls-Royce Dawn convertible at its launch event at the Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul on Wednesday. The British super luxury car maker expects its soft-top convertible to lead sales of its Korean unit this year. The price of the new Dawn starts from 449 million won ($379,704). (Yonhap)

Jejudo Island, the nation’s popular vacation spot, was presented on Tuesday as a strong candidate for the location of the second Four Seasons hotel in Korea to visiting Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the owner of the Toronto-based luxury hotel chain. “In a face-to-face meeting held at Gimpo International Airport, Jeju Province Governor Won Hee-ryong pitched the island’s world-class resort development project targeting Four Seasons and he gained positive feedback from the Arab tycoo

Hyundai Motor said Monday that it had roped in another former designer from British luxury carmaker Bentley for its new luxury Genesis brand, as part of its drive to move higher up the automotive value chain. “Korean-born and world famous car designer Lee Sang-yup, who headed the exterior design for Bentley, will make a new start at Hyundai’s design center from next month,” a Hyundai Motor Group spokesperson said, adding Lee will play the same role for Genesis cars as a vice president. Lee Sang-

Korea, which faces a demographic crisis due to dwindling birth rate, will enter into a ‘demographic onus’ era from next year, with the number of people available for economic production activities falling, according to a report by the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry on Sunday. The number of people aged between 15 and 64 -- categorized as population available for production activities -- is expected to drop to 37.02 million next year from 37.04 million this year, the nation’s biggest busines

The top research and development executives from Hyundai Motor Group and Mercedes-Benz will share their views and insights on future cars, the current hot topic in the global auto industry, at a gala dinner to be held at the BEXCO in Busan on June 1.The presentations will be made a day before the 2016 Busan International Motor show to be held from June 2 to 10. The co-organizers include the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association an

Hankook Tire, the country’s largest tire-maker, was recently chosen as a supplier for Model 3, the first mass market brand of U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla, according to local news reports.The reports said the EV-only tire of Hankook was picked based on the results of a recent performance test conducted by Tesla.  Tesla’s Model 3 EVThe company, however, declined to comment on the deal, mentioning its confidentiality agreement with each client.Despite the company’s response, shares of

Hankook Tire, the country’s largest tire maker, was recently chosen as a supplier for Model 3, the first mass market brand of U.S. luxury electric vehicle maker Tesla, according to local news reports.The news reports said the EV-only tire of Hankook was picked based on the results of a recent performance test conducted by Tesla.  Tesla’s Model 3 EVThe company, however, declined to comment on the deal, mentioning a confidentiality agreement with every client on a contract.Despite the company’s re

Market expectations of Doosan Group‘s profit turnaround are growing, with the completion of the conglomerate’s planned asset sales Tuesday. The Korean power equipment and construction giant successfully sold the heat recovery steam business unit of its construction arm Doosan Engineering & Construction for 300 billion won ($256 million) to General Electric. “This is the final deal that the group has pushed under its self-restructuring plan for the past two years,’’ a company spokesperson said.Fa