The Korea Herald

Kia Motors named best low-cost ownership brand in U.S.

Feb 10, 2012

Korea’s Kia Motors Corp. said Friday that it was named the best low-cost ownership brand in the United States, outperforming rivals such as Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. Kia Motor was awarded the inaugural 2012 Total Cost of Ownership Awards, which is given to brands and vehicles with the lowest projected ownership expenses by Kelly Blue Book (www.kbb.com). Michael Sprague (left), v...
BMW to recall 2,231 cars for faulty cooling pumps

Feb 9, 2012

BMW will recall 2,231 vehicles sold in South Korea for manufacturing defects that could cause overheating and fire in cooling pumps, the transportation ministry said Thursday. Subject to the recall are Mini Cooper S models manufactured between March 1, 2007 and Jan. 18 of last year in its British plant, according to the ministry. The cars were found to have problems with cooling pumps designed ...
Avante Coupe makes debut in U.S.

Feb 9, 2012

Hyundai Motor unveiled the Avante Coupe, dubbed the Elantra Coupe in North America, during the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. Hyundai, set to launch the two-door midsize sedan in Korea and major overseas markets, picked the U.S. market as its first target. “The Avante Coupe is equipped with a 1.8-liter engine with 148-horsepower,” the company said Thursday. “It will hit showrooms in the U.S. during th...
Import cars capture 8.9% of Korean market

Feb 6, 2012

Foreign carmakers grabbed nearly 9 percent of the automobile market in Korea last month, marking the second-highest monthly share in history. According to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, sales of import cars came to 9,441 units in January, up 9 percent from a year earlier. The import cars accounted for 8.92 percent of the combined sales, including made-in-Korea cars...
Honda runs Super Bowl ads in U.S.

Feb 5, 2012

Honda Motor Co., coming off its worst year in the U.S., has produced two offbeat Super Bowl ads with stars Matthew Broderick and Jerry Seinfeld to revive interest in its brands. Honda will air the two 60-second spots during Feb. 5’s Super Bowl after sitting out last year’s game. A commercial promoting its CR-V crossover has actor Broderick behaving like his character in 1986’s “Ferris Bueller’s ...
Hyundai eyes greater dominance in India market

Feb 5, 2012

Local unit CEO says its strategy focuses on growing premium brand Hyundai Motor Co. has set long-term strategies to go full-throttle in India’s mid-sized and luxury segments to dominate an industry still in its early stages, said Park Han-woo, CEO of Hyundai Motor India. “It is a great opportunity for us that India’s car market is becoming ever more competitive. We’re a strong player in the com...
[Korean auto sales down 1.7% in Jan.]

Feb 1, 2012

Korea’s five automakers led by market leader Hyundai Motor Co. on Wednesday reported a 1.7 percent drop in January sales due to a slump in domestic demand. The combined sales of the carmakers came to 617,506 vehicles in January, compared with 626,806 units sold a year earlier, according to data released by the companies. Their domestic shipments reached a combined 96,448 units last month, down ...
Avante Hyundai Motor’s best-seller in 2011

Jan 31, 2012

The Avante compact manufactured by Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. was the company’s top-selling car in the global market last year, industry data showed Tuesday. A total of 787,067 units of the Avante, known as the Elantra in the United States, were sold in 2011 in the domestic and overseas markets, accounting for 19 percent of Hyundai Motor’s overall shipments of 4.14 million vehicles,...
U.S. firms bid to retake luxury car market

Jan 29, 2012

U.S. luxury cars manufacturers like Cadillac and Lincoln, respectively run by GM and Ford, are struggling to win back a share of the expanding luxury car market, largely controlled by Japanese and German automakers. These brands, which once embodied the very essence of luxury cars, saw quality decline in the years before the industry crisis, and drivers abandoned them in their droves. Now they ...
Automakers compete with fuel efficient cars

Jan 29, 2012

New Mini Cooper D Korean, foreign firms strive to attract customers with new diesel line-ups Competition to launch vehicles with high fuel efficiency has been heated in the local automobile market. Among the contenders are Korean carmakers, such as Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, and major import brands including BMW, Mini, Volkswagen, Nissan and Chrysler. Noticeably, fuel efficient diesel-powe...
Kia Motors posts record earnings

Jan 27, 2012

Kia Motors Corp. reported record-high earnings last year on the back of its upgraded brand image and robust sales growth in overseas markets. The automaker posted about 3.5 trillion won ($3 billion) in net profit in 2011, up 30 percent from a year earlier. Its vehicle sales reached 43.2 trillion won last year, up 20.6 percent from a year before. Its operating profit also jumped 41.6 percent to ...
Hyundai Motor posts record profit in 2011

Jan 26, 2012

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, said Thursday that its 2011 earnings reached a record high on brisk sales in domestic and overseas markets. Net profit reached 8.1 trillion won (US$7.1 billion) last year, up 35.1 percent from 6 trillion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Operating profit rose 36.4 percent on-year from 2010 to 8.07 trillion won, with ...
Hyundai Motor beats Toyota in Germany

Jan 25, 2012

Korea’s top carmaker Hyundai Motor Co. became the best-selling Asian car brand in the competitive German market last year, edging out Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp., industry data showed Wednesday. Hyundai Motor sold 86,866 vehicles in Germany in 2011, while Toyota sold 83,204 cars, according to the German international manufacturing group VDIK. The sale of Hyundai Motor jumped 16.9 percent last ye...
Fold-up car of the future unveiled at EU

Jan 25, 2012

BRUSSELS (AFP) - A tiny revolutionary fold-up car designed in Spain's Basque country as the answer to urban stress and pollution was unveiled Tuesday before hitting European cities in 2013. The "Hiriko", the Basque word for "urban", is an electric two-seater with no doors whose motor is located in the wheels and which folds up like a child's collapsible buggy, or stroller, for easy parking. Eur...
Hyundai, Kia tops U.S. automobile industry performance scoreboard

Jan 24, 2012

Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. topped last year’s U.S. auto market performance scoreboard, a report by a consumer data provider showed Tuesday. U.S.-based TrueCar.com said Hyundai and Kia ranked No. 1 in its 2011 Annual Performance Scoreboard that checks such areas as sales growth, market share and customer brand loyalty. It said the two carmakers, which are the flagship compani...