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Tag: automotive

  • Proton aims to double exports in 2019

    Proton aims to double exports in 2019

    Proton Holdings Bhd aims to double the export of its cars to at least 3,000 units this year from 1,388 units in 2018. “In 2017, we exported 248 units. This year we want to export more,” its CEO Li Chunrong said. With the support from the Malaysian government, he said, the group could export up to 4,000 to 5,000 units this year. Asked on the group’s plans to enter the Pakistani and the Middle Eastern markets, Li responded by saying that Asean will remain as the group’s focus for its export business, but it does not intend to abandon other markets.

    “We don’t want to forget the other markets (as well). We are trying our best to enter other markets,” he added.

    On response to the Proton X70 that was officially launched on Dec 12, 2018, the group said bookings for the sports utility vehicle have exceeded 15,000 units, with over 2,000 units delivered so far.

    Earlier, Proton deputy CEO Datuk Radzaif Mohamed said the group expects to bring an initial investment of RM47 million into the country through the second set of collaboration agreements between its vendors and their overseas counterparts.

    On Oct 10, 2018, Proton hosted its first signing ceremony where eight colla-boration agreements were signed and they are expected to help bring in an initial investment of RM170 million into the country.

    Radzaif said the collaborative agreements will range from technical tie-ups and joint ventures to 100% foreign direct investments with foreign vendors investing into the Malaysian economy.

    Aside from the investments in facilities and technology, he said, the collaborations are also expected to create about 450 new jobs in the automotive industry that range from assembly to design engineering.

    Additionally, these vendors will supply parts to Proton’s manufacturing facility in Tanjung Malim, which is undergoing expansion at a cost of RM1.2 billion.

    Meanwhile, Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Ong Kian Ming, who witnessed the signing ceremony, said the government is targeting RM15 billion from exports of local automotive components and spare parts by 2020.

    Malaysian Automotive, Robotics and IoT Malaysia (MARii) CEO Datuk Madani Sahari shared that the value of exports for automotive components and parts could have easily touched the RM12 billion mark by end of December 2018.

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  • Jaguar’s first electric car roars into Korea

    Jaguar’s first electric car roars into Korea

    Luxury carmaker Jaguar introduced the I-Pace, its first electric vehicle (EV), to the Korean market Monday at the Paradise City hotel in Incheon, joining a growing number of EV automakers in the country. The luxury brand’s all-electric sport-utility vehicle (SUV) sports an electric powertrain that produces up to 400 horsepower and a 333-kilometer (207-mile) driving range.

    “The I-Pace is a high-performance electric car that has battery and electric motor technology developed from our experience in electric motor sports Formula E,” said Baek Jung-hyun, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover Korea. “Jaguar will lead the future of premium electric cars through the I-Pace.”

    The vehicle, originally unveiled in the global market early last year, was delayed for launch in Korea due to the certification process, according to Jaguar Land Rover Korea.

    The automaker has prepared charging infrastructure for the product’s launch, installing 52 charging stations in 26 of its showrooms. The company has also installed 52 chargers and 26 fast-charging stations in its service centers.

    The fast-charging stations can charge vehicles to up to 80 percent in just 40 minutes.

    For maintenance, the carmaker promised to establish 10 new service centers so that there will be a total of 37 by the end of this year.

    Jaguar Land Rover Korea is also promising an eight-year or 160,000-kilometer warranty for its battery system and will install home-charging systems for free for those customers who receive their vehicles by March 31 this year.

    The luxury brand’s all-electric car enters the budding local EV market that has seen rapid growth over recent years.

    A total of 21,375 EVs were sold between January and September last year, up from 13,826 sold in 2017. The Ministry of Environment plans to have 350,000 EVs and 10,000 fast-charging stations in the country by 2022.

    Jaguar’s newest offering joins the short list of electric SUVs in Korea, which include Tesla’s Model X and Hyundai Motor’s subcompact SUV Kona EV, both released last year in the local market.

    The I-Pace will be sold from Jan. 23 with a starting price of 110.4 million won ($98,300) that climbs to 128 million won for its highest trim, the EV400 First Edition.

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  • Hyundai Motor now ready for big races

    Hyundai Motor now ready for big races

    Hyundai Motor finalized its driver lineup for this year’s major motorsport competitions, the company said Monday.  The automaker said its target this year is to win championship titles at the World Rally Championship (WRC) and the World Touring Car Cup (WTCR). In WRC events, the carmaker participates with its own team. In WTCR events, it supplies its cars to professional racing teams.

    For the WRC, the company said last year’s vice champions Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul – a team of driver and co-driver – will be joined by Norwegian crew Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jaeger in all events. This year’s WRC has a total of 14 rounds. A composite score in those events will decide the winner.

    Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio will take part in eight events starting at Rally Mexico.

    Nine-time WRC champions Sebastien Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena, who joined the Hyundai team from last month on a two-year contract, will take part in six rounds.

    “I am pleased to be joining such a great lineup of crews,” Loeb said. “It is clear to me that the car was a competitive package in 2018, which enabled the team to fight for the championship titles right to the very end.”

    Hyundai Motor’s team – named Hyundai Shell Mobis – came in second at last year’s WRC using an i20 coupe WRC vehicle.

    The automaker also announced four drivers who will participate at this year’s WTCR event with Hyundai’s i30 N TCR racing car. The carmaker races in the Customer Motorsports category with competitors that include Audi, Volkswagen and Ford.

    Hyundai’s customer team consists of four drivers, each driving on their own. Last year’s champion Gabriele Tarquini and fourth place driver Norbert Michelisz are driving Hyundai cars once again. Augusto Farfus and Nick Catsburg are newcomers.

    Hyundai Motor has been active in motorsport events as it has a positive influence on European sales thanks to a huge popularity of motorsports with European customers. In the long run, the carmaker hopes to upgrade its image from a value-for-money carmaker to a company known for high-performance cars.

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  • Hyundai Motor sells more than 10 million cars in China

    Hyundai Motor sells more than 10 million cars in China

    Hyundai Motor, Korea’s largest carmaker, said Sunday that accumulated sales of its vehicles in China surpassed the 10 million unit mark in 2018. The milestone was reached 16 years after the company entered the key neighboring country, which has since become the largest market for new cars in the world.

    Hyundai first sold the midsize Moinca, a localized version of the Sonata, in the first year, which was followed by the Elantra. By 2008, it had increased its lineup to six, with sales exceeding 1 million units. In 2013, the carmaker said it sold 1 million vehicles in the world’s most populous country, with some 5 million cars being sold overall. Up until 2016, annual car sales exceeded the 1 million mark, although this plunged 31.3 percent on year to 785,000 units in 2017, amid a diplomatic dispute over the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Korea.

    For 2018, the carmaker said Hyundai sales edged up 0.6 percent from a year earlier to a little over 790,000, with numbers for this year not looking too promising.

  • Hyundai Motor introduces Kona Iron Man edition

    Hyundai Motor introduces Kona Iron Man edition

    Hyundai Motor said Friday that it will begin sales of its limited Kona Iron Man Edition in the Korean market from Jan. 23. The superhero edition of the SUV was developed over two years with Marvel and is the first production car to feature Marvel characters. The vehicle includes headlamps similar to the Iron Man helmet’s visor, a Marvel logo on its hood and design features from the superhero’s suit.

    According to the carmaker, the new limited edition comes in matte metallic grey, inspired by Iron Man’s original suit featured in a 1963 Marvel Comics series.

    The edition sports a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

    Of the total 7,000 Iron Man edition Kona’s to be sold globally, 1,700 of the units are in Korea.

    For local buyers, the limited-edition model will cost 29.45 million won ($26,420).

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  • BMW adding Tmall genie to connected-cars in China

    BMW adding Tmall genie to connected-cars in China

    Alibaba Group’s smart assistant, Tmall Genie, will launch in select vehicles from the BMW Group in China by the end of the year, the two companies announced at CES in Las Vegas. Tmall Genie, a product made by Alibaba’s artificial-intelligence research division, A.I. Labs, will be fully integrated in BMW vehicles, offering drivers a number of in-car entertainment and shopping options while on the road, the companies said.

    As Chinese consumers have come to expect a seamless, digital experience both at home and at brick-and-mortar retail spaces, they should expect the same experience in their car, said Dieter May, senior vice president of Digital Services and Products at BMW Group.

    “With the integration of Alibaba’s Tmall Genie in BMW vehicles in China we are adding a digital ecosystem, which will open up new possibilities that customers can access quickly and safely from the car,” May said. “This development sees BMW reaching a new milestone in China in terms of intelligent connectivity between the customer’s vehicle and their digital touchpoints.”

    The global connected-car market is expected to grow 270% by 2022, with more than 125 million connected passenger cars to be shipped between 2018 and 2022, according to a report from market research firm Counterpoint Insights. The report, released last year, pointed to the technology’s rapid uptake in China as one of the key drivers.

    Monday’s announcement follows the integration last year of “BMW Connected,” the German automaker’s connected-car app, with Tmall Genie. Consumers with Tmall Genie in their home could perform functions such as double checking to make sure the doors and windows of their BMW were open or closed. Now, they will be able to operate vehicle functions through the in-car Tmall Genie.

    Drivers can also use Tmall Genie to place online orders, view cinema listings, listen to their favorite playlist or check the weather at their destination, as well as access information from Tmall Genie via audio output or in text and image form on the BMW Display Screen. And they can use Tmall Genie to call up appointments saved in BMW Connected.

    “We launched the ‘AI+Car’ solution last year to provide a more-intelligent and connected experience for Chinese car users through Tmall Genie’s AI-powered voice interaction and service capabilities for cars,” said Alibaba Group Vice President Miffy Chen, who serves as general manager of Alibaba A.I. Labs.

    “Among our collaboration with premium automakers, we are very glad that BMW will be the first premium auto brand to bring selected car models that fully integrate Tmall Genie to the China market,” she said.

    The deal with BMW Group is just the latest involving Tmall Genie’s integration with automobiles. In September, A.I. Labs said it would integrate Tmall Genie into some vehicles made by Gothenburg, Sweden-based Volvo Cars, giving drivers the ability to monitor and control their smart home devices from their cars. Tmall Genie is also compatible with Volvo’s connected-car app, as well as those of Germany’s Daimler and Audi.

    Elsewhere in the autos sector, Alibaba Cloud in September said it would collaborate with German engineering and electronics company Robert Bosch GmbH on a self-parking feature in select sites in China that is powered by cloud software. At the same time, Alibaba also unveiled the latest model of its internet car in partnership with U.S. automaker Ford, which was part of a tie-up signed by the two companies in 2018. Ford Kuga SUV customers now can order a 10.4-inch center screen and software powered by Alibaba-designed operating system AliOS.

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  • BMW Korea fined $13M over emissions

    BMW Korea fined $13M over emissions

    A Seoul court fined BMW Korea 14.5 billion won ($12.9 million) for manipulating documents on emissions to sell some 29,000 vehicles in Korea. The Seoul Central District Court announced Thursday that the local unit of BMW is guilty of violating customs law. The automaker was found guilty of forging emissions test papers from 2011 to obtain certification from the National Institute of Environmental Research under the Environment Ministry that its cars meet local emissions standards. Roughly 29,000 cars were certified this way, according to the court.

    “The automaker has undermined government efforts to improve air quality in Korea,” the court said in a statement. “This also damaged local customers’ trust in BMW.”

    The court also added that BMW Korea took substantial profits over the years due to the manipulation, showing no effort to abide by local laws.

    “The reason for making [carmakers go through] a stringent certification process is because car emissions have substantial impact on air quality,” the court said.

    The Seoul court also found six former and current executives of the automaker involved in the case guilty. Three executives were sentenced to eight to 10 months in jail, with three others given a four to six month suspended sentence with probation.

    On Thursday’s ruling, BMW Korea said in its official statement that the company “will respond following an appropriate legal process after thoroughly reviewing the case,” adding that it cannot give a “detailed answer yet.”

    Last month, the Korean unit of rival German automaker Mercedes-Benz was also found guilty of violating the emissions certification process. The court gave Mercedes a 2.81 billion won fine and handed down an eight-month jail sentence to the executive in charge of emissions certifications. The carmaker was charged for failing to get new certifications after changing some emissions-related parts. Mercedes said it will appeal the ruling.

    In its official statement last month, Mercedes said it was an administrative mistake, adding that it was unintentional.

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  • Hyundai Mobis shows off futuristic concept self-driving car

    Hyundai Mobis shows off futuristic concept self-driving car

    Hyundai Mobis introduced its concept autonomous car equipped with 26 sensors and a special lighting system that enables cars to communicate with pedestrians at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

    The auto parts maker said it is the first time it has unveiled a concept car with at least Level 4 self-driving capability, which means cars can drive themselves without being actively monitored by the driver.

    The car comes with a modular self-driving kit comprised of various sensors – which function as eyes for the car – on the roof as well as lamps that can send messages to nearby pedestrians or cars. Mobis calls all of the technologies and parts used on the autonomous vehicle M.Vision.

    The kit on the roof – comprised of four lidar sensors, or laser-based radar, and five multifunctional camera sensors – are key strengths of M.Vision, according to Mobis.

    The modular kit can simply be mounted on the roof, so it can easily be used on different vehicles. The Korean company said it is best to put sensors on the car’s roof, considering that sensors can better detect the surrounding environment when they are placed higher above the car. To complement the kit on the roof, Mobis also installed five radar sensors and 12 ultrasonic sensors on the car’s lower body.

    The Korean company is on its way to make all sensors used in the kit with its own technology by 2020.

    The so-called communication lighting technology is a new innovation that Mobis thinks will greatly reduce fatal accidents involving autonomous cars and pedestrians.

    The company said it will use lighting to indicate to pedestrians and other drivers when the car is driving in self-drive mode. Autonomous cars will be able to detect a pedestrian from more than 450 feet away. Once someone is detected, car headlamps will project a red warning symbol to warn people it’s not safe to move around the vehicle.

    “Light has been used as a conduit for communication among vehicles and pedestrians for almost as long as the automobile has existed, so we are excited to lead the evolution of this technology to save lives and offer peace of mind to all that use the road,” said Mirco Goetz, director of lamp engineering at Hyundai Mobis.

    “Our primary focus on the safe progression to future mobility will enable our industry to continue the advancement of autonomous vehicle technology while helping to keep pedestrians and drivers out of harm’s way.”

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  • Hyundai puts holograms on road to help with navigation

    Hyundai Motor Group unveiled a holographic AR navigation system, the first of its kind, in collaboration with start-up WayRay at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Hyundai partnered with the Switzerland-based start-up that specializes in AR technology and demonstrated the navigation system on the group’s luxury sedan, the Genesis G80.

    While conventional head-up displays (HUD) project a reflected image through a liquid-crystal display screen installed on the dashboard, the new holographic AR system displays what appear to be 3-D images on the road through the windshield and automatically adjusts the displayed information to the driver’s viewing angle.

    The AR navigation system, demonstrated at WayRay’s CES booth, also takes up considerably more real estate compared to existing HUDs, typically relegated to a small corner of the windshield, and displays a variety of driving information that includes navigational features and safety warnings.

    Information such as lane guidance, destination points and the current speed is shown along with advanced driver-assistance system features including lane departure warnings and forward collision warnings.

    Hyundai said an image size of 3.15 meters (10.33 feet) by 1.31 meters will be visible from the driver’s perspective, despite the actual projected image being just 310 millimeters (12.2 inches) by 130 millimeters. The company’s existing HUD was changed to incorporate WayRay’s system.

    Hyundai promised that the technology will bring changes to the conventional concept of a windshield.

    “Future mobility windshields will be more than just a piece of glass,” said Hwang Yun-seong, director of Hyundai Motor Group’s Open Innovation Business Group. “AR holographic powered glass will serve as a platform to provide new services and open up new in-vehicle experiences”

    Hyundai said that the two companies will continue to cooperate to expand the technology to display information that identifies objects on the road such as buses and crosswalks.

    The two companies also plan to incorporate real-time data such as traffic signals, surrounding vehicle information and road or weather conditions into the technology.

    Hyundai has worked on holographic technology since 2017 and invested in WayRay last September.

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  • 2018 a record-breaking year for Mercedes Malaysia

    2018 a record-breaking year for Mercedes Malaysia

    Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM), the distributor of Mercedes-Benz marque in Malaysia, posted a record-breaking performance in 2018 spurred by the consumption tax holiday and customer-centric strategy. President and CEO Dr Claus Weidner said vehicle sales grew 9% to 13,079 units from 12,045 units recorded in the previous year, lifting the company’s market share to 2.4% from 2.3%, previously.

    “Our efforts to invigorate the brand experience for our increasingly diverse fans have been fruitful and we are happy to retain our position as the number one premium brand in Malaysia,“ he said at the company’s briefing on the 2018 full-year performance and outlook for 2019.

    In June last year, the first month of the tax holiday period following the government’s move to abolish the goods and services tax, MBM posted the highest monthly sales in the company’s history at 1,750 units.

    Weidner said other areas of business also showed improvement with total vehicles serviced last year growing by 16% from the previous year to 148,800 units and in-house financing increasing by 23% year-on-year to RM2.7 billion.

    “Four out of every 10 cars sold were financed by our in-house financing,“ he said.

    Five out of every 10 cars sold, meanwhile, were insured by its in-house service.

    A total of 20 new and facelift models were launched last year to further complement the company’s extensive product line-up, he said.

    Going forward, Weidner said MBM was confident of surpassing last year’s performance driven by demand for compact and premium sport utility vehicles as well as the company’s holistic approach and customer-centric strategy.

    “We will also continue to rejuvenate our models portfolio to continue making it desirable to customers,“ he said.

    On the number of launches for this year, he said it would be around last year’s figure.

    Weidner disclosed that the company planned to restructure its plant in Pekan, Pahang to increase the localisation of components and upgrade the technology to improve efficiency and quality.

    However, he did not disclose the amount of investment for the plant restructuring.

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  • Hyundai Cars to go online – and have legs

    Hyundai Cars to go online – and have legs

    By 2022, all cars made by Hyundai Motor will be connected to the internet, the automaker announced during a press briefing held Monday in Las Vegas ahead of the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). “We aim to have 10 million active users of our connected-car services globally and apply connected-car technology to all vehicle segments in the global market by early 2022,” said Suh Jung-sik, senior vice president of Hyundai Motor Group’s ICT division.

    At the CES, the company also introduced a vehicle in which the wheels are attached to robotic legs with a wide range of motion. Hyundai’s concept of a truly connected car is a car smarter than a computer that can share information not only with other vehicles on the road but also with homes, surrounding infrastructure and cities.

    Using connectivity, the cars can offer real-time traffic and parking lot information to drivers and also alert drivers remotely of theft. Remote adjustments of in-car settings, such as temperature, will also be possible.

    While Hyundai is already offering early versions of its connected cars in Korea, the United States, China, Canada and Europe, the automaker said it will establish additional big-data centers to offer similar services in countries like India, Brazil and Russia.

    To offer better connectivity worldwide, the carmaker is currently developing an operating system, a cloud platform and network technology for connected cars. The company also announced a plan to introduce an open platform on which third parties can develop new technologies using big data shared by Hyundai.

    Hyundai is not the only carmaker that came to CES with grand ambitions to take leadership in the connected car business.

    BMW will introduce the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant, which can interact with drivers and allow for video meetings, shopping and other digital services inside cars. Audi is introducing a virtual-reality entertainment service for passengers in back seats. VR games or travel content will match the actual movements of the car. In the long run, the carmaker said the videos will reflect real-time traffic conditions so that if a car stops due to red light, the video will show an obstacle.

    Other participants, including Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Bosch and Continental, all shared their focus on connectivity.

    “In the future, cars will be categorized as cars with hyper-connectivity and those without,” Suh of Hyundai Motor Group added.

    Apart from connectivity, Hyundai said it will develop personalized electric vehicles for everyone by giving customers the freedom to select software and hardware for their vehicles.

    To bolster open innovation, the carmaker has been setting up global open innovation centers to collaborate with foreign start-ups. Already there are three centers, established in Korea, the United States and Israel. Two more centers are set to be established, in Berlin, Germany and Beijing, China this year.

    Hyundai Motor and its innovation center in Silicon Valley, the Hyundai Cradle, introduced the “Elevate” concept vehicle at this year’s CES. It has four robotic legs specifically designed for rescue in challenging environments.

    U.S. design-consulting firm Sundberg-Ferar was involved in the development of Elevate, which Hyundai calls the ultimate mobility vehicle. It can swiftly move around places inaccessible to existing rescue transport.

    Hyundai said the Elevate’s body can be switched depending on the mission and that the robotic-leg architecture has five degrees of freedom. The company added that the vehicles can also aid people with physical impairments.

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  • Hyundai Motor starts its monthly car subscriptions

    Hyundai Motor starts its monthly car subscriptions

    Hyundai Motor on Monday introduced a car-subscription program with a monthly fee of 720,000 won ($646).  Under the program, dubbed Hyundai Selection, three models are available for users and subscribers can change models on a limited basis. The vehicles currently being offered are the Sonata sedan, the Tucson SUV and the Veloster hatchback.

    Users can use the Hyundai Selection app to apply and pay for the service. Cars will be delivered. The company is testing the subscription service business model as car sharing and rental are popular with younger customers who tend to avoid ownership and embrace more transactional business relationships.

    Hyundai said it is running the program on a 10-month pilot basis this year. As the program is still in test mode, only 50 drivers will be able to enroll. Car delivery will be limited to Seoul.

    The service was launched in collaboration with domestic rental-car companies and Deal Car, a Hyundai Capital enterprise.

    A Hyundai spokesperson said the subscription program greatly reduces the burden of car maintenance

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  • Korean imported vehicle sales up 11.8 percent last year

    Korean imported vehicle sales up 11.8 percent last year

    Sales of imported vehicles in Korea continued to rise last year, aided by firm demand for foreign brands and the resumption of sales by Audi Volkswagen, industry data showed Friday. The number of newly registered foreign vehicles reached 260,705 last year, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association said in a statement.

    The total number of imported cars sold in 2018 is an all-time record.

    The market share of foreign cars rose to a record high of 16.7 percent last year, shattering the previous all-time high of 15.5 percent in 2015, the data showed.

    The three best-selling models were the Mercedes-Benz E 300 (8,726 units sold) and E 300 4MATIC (9,141 units) and the Lexus ES300h (8,803 units).

    Mercedes-Benz became the first imported cars to sell more than 70,000 vehicles. It took the No. 1 spot among imported cars.

    BMW, despite controversy of its engine catching fire, kept its second spot by selling 50,524 vehicles.

    Toyota took third place with 16,774.

    Seven out of 10 imported vehicles sold in Korea last month were from Germany, the statement said.

    In December alone, however, the sales of foreign vehicles fell 8.7 percent on year to 20,450, it said.

    In 2017, imported vehicle sales reached 233,088 units, up from 225,279 a year earlier.

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  • SsangYong Motor rehires 60% of its workers

    SsangYong Motor rehires 60% of its workers

    SsangYong Motor said Monday that it has rehired 60 percent of workers who were sacked amid the carmaker’s restructuring efforts over a decade ago. The maker of the Rexton and Tivoli SUVs has been mired in protracted disputes with those who left the company against their will in 2009 after it was placed under court receivership. At that time, 900 workers who carried out a strike at the company’s main Pyeongtaek plant in Gyeonggi were ordered to choose between unpaid leave or voluntary retirement.

    Those who decided not to pick either option were later fired.

    In 2013, the 454 workers who had chosen unpaid leave were all reinstated, but the 165 fired workers were not permitted to return to work.

    After a series of negotiations in 2015, the company and its union agreed to gradually reinstate the fired workers, although some were left out of the agreement.

    In September 2018, the company and its union reached an agreement to rehire the remaining 119 fired workers by this year.

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  • GM Korea to cut prices after disappointing sales

    GM Korea to cut prices after disappointing sales

    GM Korea, the Korean unit of General Motors, said Tuesday it has cut the prices of mainstay models in an effort to revive lackluster sales. Starting Tuesday, GM Korea revised the prices of its major models — such as the Impala sedan, Trax, and Equinox sport-utility vehicles — by up to 3 million won ($2,700). The company expects its “customer-focused pricing approach” to strengthen the position of those key Chevrolet vehicles in the Korean market, Cesar Toledo, vice president in charge of sales, customer care and aftersales at GM Korea, said in a statement.

    “Winning more customers, growing market share and sustaining trust in our brand are all crucial ingredients in building a sustainable GM Korea for the long term,” he said.

    GM Korea struggled with weak sales in Korea due to a lack of new models and labor-management disputes over jobs last year.
    In the January-November period, GM Korea’s sales fell 12 percent to 420,447 vehicles from 479,058 a year earlier. Sales figures for December are set to be released today.

    To drive up sales, the carmaker plans to introduce 15 vehicles into the local market over the next five years. It has launched the U.S.-made Equinox and the upgraded Chevy Spark since June. The Traverse SUV will be the next model to be added to its lineup.

    GM holds a 77 percent stake in GM Korea, with the state-run Korea Development Bank and SAIC Motor controlling 17 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

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