Three months after a territorial dispute led rioters to vandalize Japanese cars in China, automakers from Toyota Motor Corp. to Nissan Motor Co. are luring back buyers with discounts and guarantees. Dealers like William Chen may take more persuasion to invest in the brands. “Sales of Japanese brands plunged about a third at my outlets,” said Chen, whose family owns about 30 showrooms selling Nis...

Hyundai Motor’s Equus took first place in the luxury car segment in the 16th annual Strategic Vision Total Value Awards in the United States. “Our flagship sedan Equus beat out competitors such as the Mercedes-Benz CLS, the Audi A8 and the Jaguar XJ,” the company said in a statement Sunday. While Strategic Vision’s Total Value Index reflects all aspects of perceived value ― from quality, to eco...

Audi Volkswagen Korea said Monday that it has named Johannes Thammer as the new Korean representative of Volkswagen Group, seller of the Audi, Volkswagen and Bentley brands. He will also have the role of managing director of Audi Korea, while Park Dong-hoon remains managing director of Volkswagen Korea, said the Korean unit of the German carmaker. Thammer, born in Germany in 1955, is an automob...

Rolls-Royce, the ultra-luxury car brand owned by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, plans to increase outlets by 14 percent within five years as it chases growing numbers of wealthy customers. Rolls-Royce targets expanding the number of dealers to 120 from 105 to reach millionaires in markets like Chile, Thailand and Vietnam. Unfazed by Europe’s debt crisis, the Goodwood, England-based carmaker expect...

Day two was when the fun started. Taking control of the wheel myself, and accompanied by my wife and 16-year-old daughter, we hit the road with Nami Island in Chuncheon the destination. Taking Highway 88 out of Seoul and linking up with the 60, I was able to really open the Jaguar up and run the 5.0 liter V8 gas engine though it paces. With the car’s claimed zero-to-100 kilometer per hour acceler...

More localized vehicles expected to debut in 4 countries in 2013

Kia Motors said on Friday that it received the prestigious iF design award for its three-door coupe pro cee’d. The company said the compact car won in the “Transportation Design” category. Company officials said the award proved that the car, to be sold in the second half of next year, was recognized globally for its outstanding design. The accolade is the fifth iF design award for Kia. “We ar...

BMW Korea unveiled Thursday a new program aimed at offering science education to children and nurturing their dreams. The Junior Campus program will start next month, benchmarking one of the programs of BMW Group’s Welt, a multi-functional customer experience and exhibition facility in Munich. BMW Korea Future Fund, the first social contribution organization set up by a foreign carmaker here, w...

GM Korea said that the company would make a new investment worth about 100 billion won ($92 million) in its Bupyeong engine plant in Incheon to produce the next-generation four-cylinder turbocharged engines. The new engines will be introduced in the first half of next year for GM Korea’s new small sport utility vehicle Chevrolet Trax and then other Chevy brand smaller cars, said the Korean unit ...

Ssangyong Motor said Sunday that it had mapped out strategies to diversify export targets within five years, while more than half of its export-oriented vehicles are shipped to Russia and Latin America. Currently, Russia accounts for 32 percent of the automaker’s export destinations, followed by South & Central American countries with 26 percent. In coordination with its majority shareholder Ma...

Companies bet big on prime-time soap operas to showcase their cars

German premium brands set to wage battles in Korea’s compact car segment