Tag: luxury car

  • Rolls-Royce to bring limited-edition model to Korea

    Rolls-Royce to bring limited-edition model to Korea

    Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the luxury car brand under the BMW Group, said Wednesday it will introduce one of its 35 limited-edition Silver Ghost Collection models in South Korea this month. Rolls-Royce made the limited edition cars to pay homage to the original Silver Ghost from the early 1990s. The car makes use of real silver accents in its interior and exterior to set it apart.

    The forest green-colored limited version to be sold in Seoul carries the phrases “Silver Ghost Since 1907” and “Silver Ghost Collection – One of Thirty-Five” in the car’s interior, the company said in a statement.

    Rolls-Royce began selling its vehicles in Korea 15 years ago. Its current lineup includes the Phantom, Ghost, Wraith, Dawn and Cullinan.

    In 2018, the carmaker sold 123 Rolls-Royce vehicles in Korea, up 43 percent from 86 a year earlier, according to the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association.

    Prices and other details were not provided for the limited-edition model.

  • 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.

  • Vingroup pours over $583 mln into Vinfast

    Vingroup pours over $583 mln into Vinfast

    Vingroup has invested VND13.6 trillion ($583.3 million) in its auto subsidiary VinFast in the first nine months of the year. VinFast, Vietnam’s first indigenous car manufacturer, is expected to eventually receive investments of $4.2 billion from the parent firm’s internal resources and loans.

    VinFast has already unveiled its first two cars, a sedan and an SUV, causing both excitement and skepticism among Vietnamese.

    From a standing start, it will create an annual capacity of 250,000 cars within the next five years or so, equivalent to 92 percent of all cars sold in Vietnam last year, according to data from the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers Association.

    VinFast will also produce 250,000 electric scooters a year in an ambitious production target that is set to eventually increase to 1 million.

    In the first three quarters of this year Vingroup recorded over VND23.456 trillion ($1.01 billion) in net revenues, a nearly 7 percent rise year-on-year. Profit before tax topped VND2.6 trillion ($111.52 million), up 41 percent.

    As of September 30 it had total assets of VND268.23 trillion ($11.5 billion), an increase of nearly VND55 trillion ($2.35 billion) from the beginning of this year.

    Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest property conglomerate, dominates the housing and property markets with Vinhomes. It has entered the healthcare market with Vinmec, runs a chain of supermarkets called Vinmart, and entertains tourists at Vinpearl resorts.

  • Aston Martin Lagonda Appointed New Director of Investor Relations

    Aston Martin Lagonda Appointed New Director of Investor Relations

    Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc (AML) has today announced the appointment of Charlotte Cowley to the position of Director of Investor Relations. Charlotte joins Aston Martin from Burberry plc where she served as Vice President, Investor Relations, and was instrumental in establishing their dedicated IR function. Before this, Charlotte worked in corporate broking at UBS and prior to that, equity research at Credit Suisse.

    In this newly created role, Charlotte will lead the investor relations activities for the company and will report to EVP and CFO Mark Wilson, joining during January 2019.

    Aston Martin EVP and CFO Mark Wilson said: ‘Strengthening our Investor Relations team is a key priority for the business following our successful listing on the London Stock Exchange. Charlotte will bring significant experience to the company at this exciting time in our history. I am delighted to welcome Charlotte to the team as we continue on our execution of our Second Century Plan.”

  • Multi-million dollar tax arrears catch up to luxury car importers

    Multi-million dollar tax arrears catch up to luxury car importers

    At the end of December 2016, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam (MBV) paid VND101.65 billion ($4.46 million) in tax arrears.

    However, the firm continued to submit letters of complaint about its initial tax assessment.

    The Post Clearance Audit Department of Vietnam Customs under the General Department of Vietnam Customs, Ministry of Finance, previously in June 2016, issued a decision of post-clearance audit in MBV’s headquarter.

    The department then imposed arrears of VND101.65 billion ($4.46 million) on the firm. Right after, MBV submitted an urgent letter asking for reconsideration.

    In December 2016, the General Department of Vietnam Customs has requested the provincial and municipal customs departments to allow the company to register and import under customs procedures, as long as they paid 50 per cent of the amount up front and the rest by December 31, 2016.

    In December 26, 2016, MBV has paid the whole VND101.65 billion ($4.46 million) and continued to import goods under customs procedures.

    However, on December 30, 2016, MBV submitted a letter of complaint about the initial tax assessment.

    Tan Thanh Do Auto Corporation (Land Rover and Jaguar dealer in Vietnam) and Regal Motor Car Corporation (official Rolls Royce dealer in Vietnam) found themselves in a similar situation.

    In November, they were requested to pay additional tax arrears of VND719 billion ($31.56 million) and VND50 billion ($2.19 million), respectively, because they declared a lower value of their imports than the actual price.

    Besides, at the end of November 2016, the Ministry of Finance has requested the General Department of Vietnam Customs to suspend customs clearance for imported BMW automobiles (except for the BMWs imported under diplomatic privilege).

    At the same time, the Anti-Smuggling and Investigation Department has decided to take Euro Auto Company, the Ho Chi Minh City-based importer of BMW automobiles, to court for failing to supply required documents or supplying fake documents during customs clearance and selling cars before they are cleared at customs.