Tag: Automotive

Like so many other skilled trades fields these days, automotive technicians are in high demand — and there’s a talent gap between jobs posted and available workers to fill them.

In Southeast Michigan, employers such as car dealerships and body shops have posted 777 open jobs in the first six months of this year, and this time last year were seeking more than 1,200 mechanics and technicians. That’s according to data tracked by the Detroit-based Workforce Intelligence Network.

As is the case with industrial jobs like machining and welding, for at least a generation, parents have discouraged their children from entering the auto service world, pushing them toward white-collar jobs even though many technical degrees yield better salaries than many college degrees, said Tony Molla, vice president of communications for the Leesburg, Va.-based National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, which certifies technicians.

When the idea of the Cadillac brand across the decades comes up, the images that flash across the mind are probably big cars representing the changing eras of modern Americana.

There’s also the big guy who worked on those cars, and Lee Randall did that for just under 50 years.

Saturday’s commentary on GM Daewoo, “Korea’s child needs to come home,” [Viewpoint, May 2] left out some key perspective.

Let’s be clear: Daewoo Motor’s luck never ran out. The delusions of grandeur on the part of its chairman led the company to foolishly overextend itself in emerging markets, and like Hyundai and Kia at the time, the Daewoo name did not carry much brand power anywhere except in Korea.

SEOUL, South Korea (Dec. 19, 2008) — Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. is reducing its production volume in December and has slowed down its plans to build a factory.

Hankook’s U.S. subsidiary, Hankook Tire America Corp., said the capacity cutback is because of declining demand for cars in a number of markets. It will be a minor adjustment spread across some plants by adjusting operational days but will not affect employment, a company spokesman in the U.S. said.

SEOUL — Lee Seong-chul’s assignment: Give his company’s vehicles an information-technology edge.

To do that, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group executive vice president plans to mix Korean government money, Microsoft Corp. know-how and local entrepreneurship.

The internal combustion engine is under siege.

Electrification is on the rise. Carmakers are touting hybrids that combine electric motors with some form of internal combustion engine. They also are turning to plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles in their drive to improve fuel economy and cut carbon dioxide emissions.

Automotive News posed six questions to six carmaker executives: two each in Europe, North America and Asia. The interviews were conducted by Asia Editor Hans Greimel, Correspondent Gary Anglebrandt, Industry Editor James B. Treece and Automotive News Europe News Editor Douglas A. Bolduc.

Full article at: Nov. 3, 2008 | Automotive News

SEOUL — Hankook Tire Co. will sell a fuel-saving tire in North America.

The tire is sold in South Korea as Enfren, for environmentally friendly. Hankook says Enfren cuts rolling resistance by 21 percent and improves fuel economy by at least 2 percent.

Low-rolling-resistance tires glide more easily across the road thanks to less weight, specialized tread patterns and tweaked chemical compounds. This leads to better fuel economy.

SEOUL — The Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group says its corporate culture is typical of Korean companies. What does this mean for outsiders trying to deal with the group?

For one thing, suppliers looking to set up shop here should consider licensing agreements more than acquisitions, says Hwan Hur, president of BorgWarner Transmission Systems Korea. Leading Korean executives like to remain at the top so they are reluctant to sell slices of their companies.

SEOUL — The Kia Soul, a small “urban crossover” coming to North America in April, will feature a grille that resembles a tiger’s nose and other new Kia design cues.

Kia hopes to take advantage of the rising popularity of small cars and hopes avoid repeating its flat North American sales performance in 2007. Design chief Peter Schreyer is using the Soul to sharpen the brand’s image.

SEOUL — South Korea’s Ministry of Justice included Hyundai-Kia Chairman Chung Mong-koo among a list of 340,000 presidential pardons to be handed out on August 15, the 60th anniversary of the Republic of Korea’s founding.

Most of the pardons were for minor offenses. The presidential pardons are an annual ritual, done on the occasion of the national founding and other holidays.

Chung was arrested in 2006 for embezzling $100 million from Hyundai and its subsidiaries for a political slush fund but was given a suspended three-year sentence in September 2007.

Chung has been doing community service this summer in lieu of jail time.

Chung wasn’t the worst offending executive on the list. Kim Seung-youn, the chairman of Hanwha, a South Korean chemical conglomerate, was let off the hook for his suspended sentence. His offense? Assaulting bar workers in retaliation for beating up his son in 2007.

Aug. 12, 2008 | Automotive News

SEOUL, South Korea — Production at GM Daewoo Auto & Technology’s main Bupyeong plant in South Korea resumed July 22 after a price dispute with tire suppliers halted lines there.

Korean tire makers Kumho Tire Co. Inc. and Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. stopped delivering tires to GM Daewoo on July 18 because the auto maker would not agree to higher tire prices. The suppliers said rising material costs necessitate the increase.

Strange things can result when you combine a flexible justice system, very deep pockets and a corporate publicity machine.

Like a photo of Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo bottle-feeding a baby.

Chung’s three-year sentence for embezzling about $100 million to set up political slush funds was suspended after he promised to give about $815 million to charity and perform 300 hours of community service.

SEOUL — Kia Motors Corp. plans to export its new Soul small car to the United States and China in March, says a Kia source.
The five-seater will be produced for the Chinese market at a Kia plant in China in December 2009. The source declined to be identified because he is not authorized to talk about the matter.

Suh Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, also said the Soul is coming to the United States in early 2009.

The car, code-named AM, is the next step, after the Borrego SUV, in Kia’s strategy to reshape the brand’s exterior design. The Soul concept was shown first in Detroit in January 2006. It was displayed in Geneva in March with a new “tiger nose” grille by Peter Schreyer, Kia’s head of design.

Schreyer has said he wants to give Kias a more distinct look. In his corner is Tom Kearns, who came from Cadillac and did the main design work on the Soul.

The Soul was developed with buyers of the Toyota Scion and Honda Fit in mind. The car is expected to get a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive.

May 12, 2008 | Automotive News

SEOUL — Mando Corp. finally has been pulled closer to the world of Hyundai Motor Co., two years after Hyundai Chairman Chung Mong-koo offered to buy South Korea’s second-largest automotive supplier.

Chung didn’t snare Mando. His cousin did.

SEOUL — SsangYong Motor Co., a unit of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., will launch its Chairman W luxury sedan in China at the Beijing auto show in April. 

It will be built in South Korea and exported to China as a SsangYong.

SEOUL — Sister brands Hyundai and Kia say they target different buyers but there is a limit to how different they are.

Hyundai markets itself as refined and aims to appeal to conservative buyers. Kia is sporty and targets adventurous customers.

But Hyundai says it will continue to make sporty cars. And Kia will still sell conservative sedans.

The reason? Both brands have dealers that want full lineups.

SEOUL — Kumho Tire Co. Inc. is looking for investors to buy a 10.7-percent stake in the South Korean tire maker that Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has owned since February 2005.