SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s tax authorities have been investigating the local importer of Toyota and luxury Lexus vehicles over suspected tax evasions since late 2016, industry sources said Friday. In November, the Seoul office of the National Tax Service (NTS) launched a tax audit into Toyota Korea over suspicions that it [...]
SEOUL, July 26 (Korea Bizwire) – Toyota is recalling over 6,200 cars sold in South Korea for defective airbags, the transportation ministry said Tuesday. The recall affects 6,209 units of three vehicle types – the Prius, Prius PHV and Lexus CT200h — that were produced between Feb. 26, 2009 and April 27, 2012 and sold [...]
SEOUL, June 17 (Korea Bizwire) – In an effort to stimulate Korea’s moribund domestic consumption, the government lowered its special consumption tax on vehicles from 5 percent to 3.5 percent, starting from August 2015. This tax benefit — which will expire at the end of June — however, has brought about “undue profit” to foreign car makers while [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) - GM Korea and Toyota will recall 1958 cars sold in South Korea for safety-related mechanical defects, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Wednesday. GM Korea, the South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., said ignition coils on its Veritas full-size sedans have problems that could [...]
SEOUL, Nov.30 (Korea Bizwire) – Although sales of foreign diesel cars froze after it was revealed that Volkswagen cars were ‘cheating’ on emissions tests, sales of environmentally friendly hybrid cars are rising fast. Industry watchers even say that a new ‘era of hybrid cars’ is beginning, as Hyundai Motor and Toyota both saw their highest [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – “Labor costs in Korea are rising rapidly. For example, Indian assembly plants can produce cars at half the cost of those in Korea. The so-called ‘ordinary wage’ issue will affect all Korean industries – not just the automobile industry.” Last May, Sergio Rocha, president and CEO of GM Korea, [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Supercars are selling more than ever in Seoul, and the city is rapidly becoming a new hotspot for supercar brands. Bentley sells more of its US$ 230,000 model at its Cheongdam dealership in Seoul than anywhere else in the world. For all Bentley models, Seoul ranks second in sales behind Dubai. [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean companies are building up a solid lead in the market for electric vehicle batteries. According to a market report on automotive batteries published by SNE Research on January 12, Korean companies held a 41 percent share of automotive battery patents as a percentage of the global total. LG Chem held [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Mercedez-Benz won back the top place in Korean imported car market by edging out its long rival BMW which had been the top ranker for 2 years and 9 months since December in 2011 in South Korea. According to the sales report for September by the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors [...]
BUSAN, May 27 (Korea Bizwire) - Starting with Press Day on May 29, and the Opening Ceremony on May 30, the 2014 Busan International Motor Show (BIMOS 2014) will be at BEXCO in Busan for 11 days through June 8. The auto show, which first convened as the inaugural exhibition for BEXCO in 2001, is [...]