Tension is escalating in the fast-growing all-electric vehicle market this year, as Hyundai Motor unveiled Monday the interior design of its Ioniq 5 model. Market eyes were especially fixed on the South Korean automaker’s pricing strategy as the teaser release came in the wake of US competitor Tesla’s recent product launch and apparent penetration price policy to meet the government’s subsidy requirements. With the Ioniq 5 model set to be unveiled in full via an online wor

Industry Feb. 15, 2021

After a year of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Korea’s conglomerates saw some fluctuations in their asset rankings, reflecting the impact from major mergers and acquisitions and from the contactless business trend, industry data showed Wednesday. While the top seven business groups remained largely unchanged, those in transportation and heavy industries expanded their assets on the back of M&A deals. Also, biopharmaceuticals and IT players climbed up the ladder on the back of social di

Industry Feb. 10, 2021

LG Hausys will unveil new high-end interior materials at North America’s largest kitchen and bath design trade show, in a move to add fuel to its overseas expansion in the region, officials said Tuesday. The industrial materials affiliate of LG Group will have an online showroom at the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show 2021, a virtual event to run from Tuesday to Friday this week. The new products comprise of five types of engineered stone materials under the Viatera quartz line and s

Industry Feb. 9, 2021

South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia confirmed Monday that they are “not in talks” with Apple over the manufacturing of the “Apple Car,” denying weeks of speculative reports. While the crucial dealbreaker yet remains uncertain, market observers suggested that this latest case may deliver some impact on the auto group’s credibility when it comes to confidential global deals. In their respective regulatory filings, the two automake

Industry Feb. 8, 2021

Hyosung Heavy Industries, the machinery maker arm of South Korea’s textiles and chemicals conglomerate Hyosung Group, will build the world’s single-largest liquid hydrogen facility in Ulsan. The project, carried out together with global chemical company Linde, comes in line with the country’s policy road map to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. “Hyosung Heavy and Linde Group have signed an investment agreement on creating joint ventures in order to push ahead with th

Industry Feb. 5, 2021

South Korea’s automotive industry was one of the few sectors to weather the COVID-19 pandemic with few ill effects, managing to expand in 2020 with prospects for further strides amid market changes in 2021. Not only did the pandemic encourage consumers to rely on personal cars for transportation, but the fast growth of electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology gave momentum to the industry at a time it was desperately needed. But on a closer view, the rich-get-richer dilemma

Industry Feb. 4, 2021

Apple’s yearslong antitrust dispute in South Korea seemed to settle as the nation’s watchdog accepted the US tech giant’s redeeming plan to spend some 100 billion won ($89.73 million) in supporting consumers and small-sized businesses. The Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday that it has approved the financial package suggested by the local unit of Apple Inc. to wrap up its alleged unfair market practices in the past. “This is the first time that a correction scheme

Industry Feb. 3, 2021

As Myanmar deals with the aftermath of the latest military coup, South Korean businesses operating there are promptly following through with contingency measures, seeking to ensure the safety of their workers and their families and also to minimize the anticipated disruption to major ongoing projects. Likely to take the most visible impact are players in the energy and trading sectors, especially those that have expanded investments into landmark development projects in recent years. Accordin

Industry Feb. 2, 2021

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, 60, was chosen Monday as the new chief of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and will succeed incumbent Chairman Park Yong-maan. For the first time, the KCCI is to be led by a figure at the helm of one of the so-called Big Four chaebol -- Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK and LG. SK Group is South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate in terms of assets, as of 2020.　 Chey’s appointment was also seen as a signal that the country’s industries are

Industry Feb. 1, 2021

Innocean Worldwide, the advertising subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, has appointed a new global chief strategy officer, in a move to add fuel to its global growth and digital transformation, officials said Monday. This marked the first time that the company has created a top post to supervise its global strategy and appointed an outside expert for the role. The company named Nicholas Kim, 50, a Korean American who formerly served as chief strategy officer at Publicis Groupe in New York, for

Industry Feb. 1, 2021

LG International, the trading arm of LG Group, saw its operating profit climb 18.5 percent on-year in 2020, on the back of the improved profitability in logistics, the company said Friday in a regulatory filing. Data showed that the company’s yearly sales came to 11.28 trillion won ($10.06 billion), up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, and its operating profit reached 159.8 billion won, up 18.5 percent during the same period. The operating profit marked a visible expansion during the

Industry Jan. 29, 2021

While logistics and biopharma companies across the world strive to secure “cold chain” channels to safely store and transport COVID-19 vaccines, a South Korean home appliance brand specializing in kimchi fridges is set to roll out an ultra-low temperature freezer for such use. Winia Dimchae, known for its kimchi fridge brand Dimchae, has successfully developed an ultra-low temperature freezer, jointly with its wire telecommunications apparatus affiliate Dayou Plus, officials said.

Industry Jan. 28, 2021

Of all the South Korean business groups that are facing the post-coronavirus market changes, Hyundai Motor Group is likely to be the one to undergo the most dramatic transformation this year and in the years to come. Its mission is not just to maintain and safeguard conventional businesses, but to fundamentally transform itself as a new future mobility business. As a major carmaker, the group is also being impacted by growing calls for environmental sustainability. Looking ahead to a fierce c

Industry Jan. 28, 2021

Hyundai Motor saw its operating profit soar by over 40 percent in the fourth quarter last year despite the COVID-19 market fallout, on the back of new product launches and robust domestic sales, the company said Tuesday. The carmaker achieved 1.64 trillion won ($1.49 billion) in operating profit from October to December last year, up 40.9 percent from the 1.24 trillion won a year earlier. Sales for the given period stood at 29.24 trillion won, up 5.1 percent on-year. The overall yearly figur

Industry Jan. 26, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with the yearslong slow growth trend, has weighed upon most businesses but the burden was especially heavy for those that failed to grow out of conventional operating models. An example among South Korea’s top businesses was the country’s retail giant Lotte Group which apparently is struggling to cope with the fast-changing market trend. According to the nation’s bourse operator Korea Exchange, none of the Lotte affiliates were included in Kospi&

Industry Jan. 25, 2021