Most Popular
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Blinken calls on China to press N. Korea to end its 'dangerous' behavior
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New celebrity-endorsed therapy for face contouring requires only a pair of rubber bands
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Tensions heighten ahead of first president-opposition chief meeting
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[Weekender] How DDP emerged as an icon of Seoul
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Seoul to provide housing subsidy to married couples with newborns
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Doctor group's incoming head renews call for govt. to scrap medical school quota hike for dialogue
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Rapper jailed after public street fight with another rapper
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Woman gets suspended term for injuring boyfriend with knife
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[Music in drama] An ode to childhood trauma
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NewJeans pops out ‘Bubble Gum’ video amid troubles at agency
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Ferrari hybrid hits resurgent market
Ferrari, Bentley, Jaguar, and Rolls- Royce are roaring back with new leather-swathed models after a drop last year in European sales of ultra-luxury cars.At the Geneva Motor Show last week, Ferrari showed a 1 million-euro ($1.3 million) hybrid called LaFerrari. Bentley exhibited a revamped four-door Continental Flying Spur. Jaguar debuted the XFR-S, its fastest sedan ever. Rolls-Royce is adding a 245,000-euro coupe called the Wraith to its lineup. The highest end of the market ― vehicles costing
March 10, 2013
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Jaguar XJ goes irresistibly light
Namhae ― Dieting is all the rage among luxury carmakers today, from slimmed-down bodies to smaller engines. Jaguar’s take on the trend was to put the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine from the Range Rover Evoque into its flagship XJ sedan. The British luxury carmaker, whose presence has been growing recently in Korea, believes the lighter, cheaper engine lineup ― priced at 190 million won ($175,000) ― will enable it to access new customers. (Korea is the fourth-largest market fo
March 10, 2013
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[Photo News] Hyundai's new SUV
March 7, 2013
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Ford, GM say U.S. cuts won’t hurt demand
Automakers led by General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. predict demand for cars and trucks, on pace for the best year since 2007, will remain resilient even as the U.S. was unable to avert government spending cuts that took effect Friday. Vehicles on U.S. roads are the oldest on average in history, and Americans will continue to look to replace them with more fuel-efficient models also equipped with better technology features, the automakers’ sales executives said Friday. Ford reported its best
March 3, 2013
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Hyundai-Kia ends overnight shifts
Hyundai Motor Group, which owns Hyundai and Kia brands, starts a new reduced-hours working system Monday, putting an end to the Korean auto giant’s 45-year-old overnight shift. Following an agreement between labor and management last year, Hyundai has replaced the previous practice of two 10-hour shifts with two shifts of eight or nine hours each. According to a statement published Sunday, daily working hours at Hyundai and Kia factories will be shortened from 10 to 8.5 hours per person, which m
March 3, 2013
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A different driving experience
The Korea Herald, in cooperation with carmakers, offers a test-driving experience to executive officials at Korean or multinational companies or ranking diplomats here. The opinion below is the author’s own. For any inquiry into this column, please contact jylee@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed.When the Panamera was unveiled by Porsche, a renowned brand that represented an uncompromising motor sports for the purists, my feelings were very mixed. Of course, we have the Cayenne SUV, which was an even bigger s
March 3, 2013
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Hopes riding high for new Mercedes-Benz CEO
Britta Seeger officially stepped behind the wheel of Mercedes-Benz Korea as chief executive last week.She will be the first foreign woman to head an import car firm.That in itself was enough to make headlines in Korea, where automakers are still defined by masculinity.A host of women recently rose to executive posts in the industry, but Seeger is a rarity in that she is both a woman and a non-Korean. It would be an understatement to say she has a lot on her plate as such. Unlike her predecessor,
March 3, 2013
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Carmakers to unveil new cars at Geneva motor show
South Korean automakers plan to unveil new cars and facelifted models at a motor show in Switzerland next month in a bid to strengthen their presence in Europe, a company official said Monday.Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s top automaker, will unveil the facelifted model of its Tucson ix35 sports utility vehicle at the International Motor Show Geneva that is set to open on March 5 and run through March 17.Hyundai also said it will premier a seven-seat sports utility vehicle under the project na
Feb. 25, 2013
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Volkswagen profit forecast falls short
Volkswagen AG, Europe’s largest automaker, forecast that 2013 operating profit will match last year’s level, falling short of analysts’ estimates, as the shrinking auto market in its home region weighs on earnings. Earnings before interest and taxes, which rose 2.1 percent to 11.5 billion euros ($15.2 billion) in 2012, probably won’t increase this year, Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen said Friday in a statement. The average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg is for 2013 profit of
Feb. 24, 2013
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Imported cars have changed market landscape in Korea
Imported passenger cars have seen tremendous growth in South Korea over the last few years. In 2012 for instance, BMW Korea sold three times more cars than it did in 2009. However, contrary to other markets with similar or even higher growth rates, the total domestic market has been quite stable, with annual sales totaling around 1.2 million units. Don’t we forget there was a huge backlog with an exceptionally low segment share of imported vehicles of around 3 percent only a few years ago, where
Feb. 24, 2013
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China decade away from global carmaker: analyst
Chinese automakers are about a decade away from being globally competitive and will have to increase their spending on research and development to close the gap, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Carmakers such as General Motors Co., Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. are outspending Chinese brands on research and development and lead in engineering, said Max Warburton, an auto analyst at Bernstein, which has a neutral rating on China’s auto industry. The Chinese have the will and money
Feb. 24, 2013
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It’s good to be challenger: Toyota Korea CEO
Korea is one of the few countries where Toyota Motor, the world’s largest carmaker, is not a dominant player. In a market where domestic brands Hyundai and Kia make up almost 80 percent of car sales, Toyota comes in fifth place among foreign brands, after the German carmakers; Toyota Korea’s market share stands at a tiny 1 percent. But Tommy Nakabayashi, CEO of Toyota Motor Korea, doesn’t complain about the unique business environment in Korea. Instead, he is willing to take on new challenges an
Feb. 24, 2013
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[Photo News] All New Range Rover
Feb. 21, 2013
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Korea remains world’s 5th-largest car producer
South Korea retained its position as the world’s fifth largest automobile producer last year for the eighth year in a row behind China, the United States, Japan and Germany, a local industry group said Monday.Top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. and four other local automakers produced a combined 4.56 million units in 2012, compared with 4.66 million vehicles produced a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.South Korea’s output accounted for 5.4 percent of a total
Feb. 18, 2013
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Hyundai’s fuel cell car drives more smoothly than popular hybrids
Like a regular SUV, Hyundai’s fuel-cell-powered Tucson lets you cover about 370 miles on a single tank. Its silent power system and familiar six-speed automatic transmission make highways and city streets quieter than ever. In fact, there’s not much you can’t do with the hydrogen-cell Tucson that you can’t do with a regular Tucson ― except fill’er up. And, for the moment, afford’er.This isn’t the model found at dealerships. Not yet. But Hyundai is already leasing hydrogen-powered vehicles to cit
Feb. 17, 2013
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Jaguar Land Rover sees Korea as key market
There was no doubt in David McIntyre’s mind when he decided to undergo a career shift to lead the Korean operations of Jaguar Land Rover last year. The former director of Bentley’s Chinese sales had two clear reasons for embracing the change: The first was that it would be an opportunity to oversee two British luxury car brands ― Jaguar and Land Rover. The second was the strong growth potential he saw in the Korean import car market, something he had already seen several years ago when he was in
Feb. 17, 2013
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Lexus GS ― a great family car
The Korea Herald, in cooperation with carmakers, offers a test-driving experience to executive officials at Korean or multinational companies and ranking diplomats here. The opinion above is the author’s own. For any inquiry into this column, please contact jylee@heraldcorp.com. ― Ed. My daily routine requires me to drive to many different places in Seoul, all at different times of the day, and I must say that I feel much safer and my commute seems quicker and more practical in this marvelous Le
Feb. 17, 2013
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Korean Air to build tallest building in western U.S.
A $1 billion office-and-hotel tower being developed by Korean Air Lines Co. in downtown Los Angeles will be the tallest building in the western U.S. upon its completion in four years, according to the projects architect.The foundation of the 1,100-foot (335-meter) tower will be poured at the end of this year, with a grand opening planned for March 2017, said Chris Martin, chief executive officer of Los Angeles-based architecture firm AC Martin Partners. The building will rise higher than downtow
Feb. 11, 2013
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Korea’s auto production up 23.3 percent in Jan.
Output by South Korean carmakers jumped 23.3 percent in January from a year earlier on the back of strong overseas shipments, a local industry group said Monday.Industry leader Hyundai Motor Co. and four other local automakers produced a combined 410,602 vehicles last month, according to the data compiled by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.The export volume also advanced 17.1 percent on-year to 288,344 vehicles in January, with the total value reaching $4.27 billion.Market watcher
Feb. 11, 2013
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‘Political dispute makes Mahindra balk at investment in Ssangyong’
The head of Ssangyong Motor Co. said Tuesday the automaker’s parent company Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. balked at investing in his company due to a political dispute over labor troubles at South Korea’s smallest automaker.Lee Yoo-il, Ssangyong’s chief executive officer, told reporters that his company will hold a board of directors meeting later this month to discuss an investment decision meant to develop new vehicle models.Lee did not disclose details of the planned investment.His comment came
Feb. 5, 2013