Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo held talks with Jiangsu province Gov. Shi Taifeng at the company’s headquarters in southern Seoul for closer business partnership with one of the most popular Chinese destinations for Korean investors, the group said Monday.Chairman Chung and other Hyundai high-level officials, including his son and Hyundai Motor vice chairman Chung Eui-sun, guided the Chinese provincial leader.  Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Mong-koo (second from right) looks at

With the opening of the 20th National Assembly -- where opposition parties have a majority of 300 seats -- scheduled for May 30, the business community has raised concerns over a corporate tax hike and its impact on the economy. “A recent survey of about 50 Korean economists showed 72 percent of respondents backed the current corporate tax rate,’’ the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said in a press release Monday. Of them, 12 percent called for corporate tax reduction for business vitalit

A group of top Korean business tycoons -- including SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo and LS Group chairman Koo Cha-yol -- flocked to the promising Iran market Monday in an attempt to explore new business opportunities in many sectors ranging from energy to infrastructure construction.They landed in Teheran, capital of the oil-rich Middle Eastern country, with the Korean economic delegation composed of representatives from 236 companies and institutions. The delegat

Not many people are aware of the progress Hyundai Motor has made in motor sports in recent years. This is part of the reason why the car-loving community here was surprised to hear that a car racing team run by Germany-based Hyundai Motorsport topped the fourth round of the 2016 FIA World Rally Championship in Argentina last month. The WRC, which began in 1973, is a world-famous motor sports series like Formula One. One big difference being that vehicles in the competition are mass-produced cars

This is the second of the two-part stories on what drove Hyundai Motor Group toward its 100-million-unit milestone in cumulative car sales. -- Ed.Hyundai Motor vice chairman Chung Eui-sun, who leads projects for future growth of the carmaker, has the busiest year ever as the automotive industry faces a sea change with digital disruption. A recent report by McKinsey & Company forecast technological advances in areas such as electrification, vehicle connectivity and self-driving cars will change t

Saudi Aramco-invested S-Oil, the nation’s third-largest oil refiner, has sought sustainable growth by running a variety of corporate social responsibility programs on a long-term basis. The firm company has run its “sharing” programs with three targets for protection -- environment, heroes and local community -- for the past decade.  S-OIL CEO Nasser al-Mahasher awards the 2015 hero firefighters at the auditorium of Yongsan Fire Station in Seoul in December 2015. (S-Oil)The oil refiner said its

Hyundai Motor Group officially dismissed rumors Tuesday that it is seeking to sell its credit card affiliate. In a conference call for the first quarter performance of Hyundai Motor, Choi Byung-chul, chief financial official of the automaker, made it clear that there is no plan to sell any stake in Hyundai Card. Hyundai Motor currently holds a 37 percent stake in the group’s credit card business unit. The rumors of a sale gained ground as the group was reluctant to buy out General Electric Capit

In contrast with Hyundai Motor, its sister automaker Kia Motors saw its operating profit jump 23.8 percent to 633.6 billion won ($554 million) in the first quarter from the same period last year, boosted by sales in its sport utility vehicle lineup, according to the company Wednesday. Hyundai Motor’s operating profit fell 15.5 percent to 1.34 trillion won on-year in the first quarter, hit by sales drop in China. Kia’s net profit also increased 4.6 percent to 944.6 billion won during the January-

For Hyundai Motor Group, the month of April has been memorable and pride-filled, with the world’s fifth-largest automaker reaching a milestone in car sales. The combined cumulative sales of the group’s two auto units -- Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors -- reached over 100 million units on April 16. It took 54 years for the group to mark the achievement since it began producing cars in 1962. “Hyundai Motor Group is not the first to reach the milestone in the auto industry, but i

Hyundai Motor, the nation’s top automaker, said Tuesday that its first-quarter net profit dropped 10.8 percent from a year earlier, affected by weak demand from emerging markets. In a regulatory filing, the automaker reported a net profit of 1.77 trillion won ($1.54 billion) for the January-March period, down from a profit of 1.98 trillion won tallied a year earlier. Hyundai Motor Group headquarters in Seoul (Yonhap)Operating profit also plunged 15.5 percent on-year to 1.34 trillion won over the

A number of options are being considered for restructuring the Korean shipbuilding industry, which suffers from overcapacity, with the government stepping up its active intervention. The latest option being discussed is the consolidation of military ship makers, a local business daily said Monday, quoting a high-ranking government official close to the matter.South Korean defense contractor Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering unveils the first out of three submarines for the Indonesian De

POSCO Group posted an operating profit of 659.8 billion won ($582 million) in the first quarter, a 93.7 percent increase over the same period last year, the nation’s top steelmaker said Thursday.The combined net profit also skyrocketed 221.9 percent to 352.5 billion won in the same period, thanks to performance improvements in steel-making and trading businesses. Revenue of POSCO and its key affiliates including POSCO Daewoo, however, fell 10.3 percent to 12.46 trillion won in the January-March

Despite the absence in the exhibition hall, the 2016 Busan International Motor Show continues to contact Tesla, the U.S.-based luxury electric vehicle-maker, with intentions of inviting a high-profile official from the automaker in the global spotlight with the recent launch of Model 3, its first mass-market EV model. “Tesla is one of three global automakers that we are striving to invite a speaker for a gala dinner to be held on June 1, one day before the opening,” said Yoo Dong-hyun from BEXCO

GS Group chairman Huh Chang-soo called on CEOs and executives of affiliates to streamline their business projects, stressing the importance of timely implementation when uncertainties continue to loom large. “A key role of business leaders is to have other team members on the same page for business objectives and push ahead with projects, regardless of any challenges and business conditions,’’ the chief of the industrial giant said in the second-quarter meeting with about 150 CEOs and executives

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the details of eased rules on car tune-ups, aimed at promoting the vehicle-tuning business as a growth engine, Sunday. 　The revised rulings, for instance, will remove the year limit on transforming an internal combustion engine-based car into an electrified vehicle. Under the current regulations, only cars with less than five years of history were subject to such tune-up by the law.An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure

Speculation grows over a possible merger between the country’s two major shipbuilders -- Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering -- as the government is pushing for restructuring of the faltering shipbuilding industry, amid concerns over falling shipbuilding orders.The sense of crisis over idling shipyards is on the rise this year as the number of shipbuilding orders won by the top three shipbuilders in the first three months of this year hit a record low of nine

The nation’s major business associations called on the new National Assembly to make cooperative efforts to restore economic vitality beyond conflicts in ideology and distrust.“The business community hopes most that the newly elected lawmakers will make collective efforts to stabilize the livelihoods of ordinary citizens and restore the economy mired in a slump as the election result implies,” the Federation of Korean Industries, a business association of conglomerates, said in a statement Thurs

Sales of three luxury German carmakers -- Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi --set a record high of 8.8 trillion won ($7.6 billion) in sales last year, exceeding the combined figures of three smaller Korean automakers, excluding Hyundai and Kia, company data showed Thursday. Among foreign car brands here, sales of Mercedes-Benz were tops last year, soaring up to a record high of 3.1 trillion won in 2015, a 42.5 percent increase from a year ago.BMW and Audi followed with a 2.88 trillion won and 2.8 tril

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, the biggest affiliate of industrial giant Doosan Group, said Thursday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-run China Nuclear Industry Maintenance Company in its efforts to enter China’s operations and maintenance market.The Chinese partner is the biggest O&M service provider for nuclear power plants in China. It offers its O&M services to 30 nuclear plants nationwide in China, Doosan added. Doosan has sharpened its global competitiveness

April will be a landmark month for the global success of Hyundai Motor Group as its cumulative global sales is poised to surpass 100 million units. The Korean automotive giant said Monday that the combined global sales of its two automakers -- Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors -- reached 99.7 million units in March, and is expected to cross the 100-million mark this month. “Few automakers in the world have achieved such a sales record in the global market,’’ said Kim Pil-soo, an automotive engineerin