Subaru plans to start selling cars in South Korea

The sixth largest carmaker in Japan, the Subaru announced it will start selling its cars in South Korean market in April. A subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries, which was founded back in 1958, will be operated by Subaru Korea.

At the beginning, the company will offer three vehicles including the Legacy mid-size sedan, Outback crossover vehicle and Forester SUV. The company revealed it plans to secure dealerships with maintenance capabilities in the major cities such as Seoul, Busan, Gwangju and Bundang, while later it may expand to other smaller cities.

Sales projections for the first year have been set at a very modest 600 units. Out of 600 vehicles sold, half are set aside for the sedan, and the remainder is divided equally between the Forester SUV and Outback crossover.

Prices have not been released yet and will be announced closer to the launching date set for April 2010.

With every new entry onto Korean market, Hyundai is facing stronger competition. Yet, the Korean largest automaker is confident it can retain more than 50 percent market share in 2010.

P.S. Mitsubishi ASX, which has made its unofficial debut yesterday, is rumored to enter Korean auto market sometime next year to challenge Hyundai's new Tucson and Kia's upcoming Sportage replacement.

Mitsubishi ASX to debut in Geneva

Mitsubishi crossover SUV to challenge Hyundai's new Tucson!

Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi is set to unveil its all-new ASX crossover vehicle at the forth-coming Geneva Auto Show. The ASX crossover vehicle is already on sale in Japan, but now the automaker will bring it to Europe take some buyers away from Hyundai, VW, Ford and Toyota.

The ASX crossover is a five-seat, compact crossover, which is about the same length as new Hyundai Tucson. With the length of 4.3 meters, the model is slotted below the Outlander SUV in the Mitsubishi line-up.

The guys from Mitsubishi did not release many details on their new crossover, but they did mention that the European-spec ASX will be available with 1.8L four-cylinder diesel engine. The 1.8L turbocharged direct-injection diesel engine is said to be developed in conjunction by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and MMC. Mated to Mitsubishi's 6-speed manual transmission, this combination is expected to provide high environmental efficiency.

According to official press release, released today, the ASX will also be equipped with eco-friendly "Automatic Stop & Go" technology.

The all-new Mitsubishi ASX sure does look interesting at first glance, but to get to know more details about this vehicle, we will have to wait until its official spring introduction. [Source: Mitsubishi]

Mitsubishi ASX gallery:

Hyundai becomes the largest car seller in Turkey

Hyundai sales in Turkey (Europe) jump 112 percent in 2009!

Hyundai has announced it has taken the top spot in the new passenger car sales in Turkey. The Korean carmaker increased its sales by 112 percent and grabbed 16.4 percent of Turkish new car market.

According to the statement, Hyundai sold 60.645 cars in Turkey in 2008 and took the top spot in the country's passenger car market from the long-time leader Renault SA of France. Renault has been the most popular car brand in Turkey for the last 11 years.

Hyundai to set up commercial vehicle joint venture in China

Hyundai announced it plans to establish a commercial vehicle joint venture with one of the Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturers.

Hyundai experienced explosive passenger car sales gains in China in 2009 and the company now seeks to repeat the success in the world's largest auto market through commercial vehicles.

The Korean largest car maker intends to offer a complete line-up of commercial vehicles in China with an aim to sell around 100.000 units of its trucks by the end of 2014

Hyundai announced it has signed an agreement to create a joint venture with Baotou Bei Ben Heavy-Duty Truck. Under the agreement, Hyundai and its commercial vehicle partner will both invest $400 million to establish a 50-50 joint venture.

The joint venture between Hyundai and Baotou Bei Ben Heavy-Duty Truck will first unveil a redesigned Baotou Bei Ben model, while two year later the ventzre will unveil a completely redesigned model, which will feature Hyundai's advance powertrain technology.


Image: Baotou Bei Ben heavy truck.

"Entering China's commercial vehicle market is essential in establishing Hyundai's reputation as the most comprehensive car manufacturer in the world's largest auto market," Mr. Choi, Hyundai's Vice Chairman, said at the signing ceremony. "Our business in China will play a pivotal role in helping us achieve our global sales target of 200,000 units in commercial vehicles by 2013."

Hyundai Mobis is growing fast

Hyundai Mobis, the world's fastest growing auto parts maker, is eyeing to become the fifth largest car parts making company in the world by 2020!

In the beginning, Hyundai Mobis has been specialized in shipping container production, but later the company reorganized itself to become a specialized automobile parts maker, supporting the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group.

To fuel a significant part of the planned growth, Mobis is now looking to win contracts from other automobile makers.

We have already reported in September that Mobis set a record for Korea's auto parts industry when it won the largest parts supply contract ever won by a local parts maker. Mobis has won a $2 billion contract to supply chassis modules to Chrysler, which will be used in the new models of Dodge Durango and Jeep Cherokee.Both model will go into production by the end of 2010.

In addition, Hyundai Mobis also secured a three-year contract from BMW to supply rear lamps that will be used in BMW's 1-series. According to latest news from Korea Herald, Hyundai Mobis also won a contract from U.S. General Motors, to supply it with park brakes destined for future Cadillac cars. Both orders are worth around $90 million!

New Opel Meriva to rival future Hyundai i20 mini-MPV

Future Hyundai i20 mini-MPV facing strong competition from Opel Meriva rival!

Opel has released the very first photos of the all-new Meriva mini-MPV ahead of it official unveiling. The all-new Meriva is scheduled to make its official premiere at the upcoming Geneva Auto Show in March.

The all-new Opel Meriva is one of the most successful vehicles in the mini-MPV segment. Over the past few years, it was also the best selling vehicle in the segment, which has been gradually expanding with new models from different brands.

One of the latest mini-MPV models that joined the battle for young European families is the brand-new Kia Venga. Kia Venga might be the first attempt of South Korean's second largest carmaker to lure younger families to the showrooms, but its a very solid car with nice design and modern powertrain technology.

But Venga is not the last mini-MPV coming from a Korean carmaker! Hyundai has already announced it is working on a similar model, which will use Venga's powertrain technology, including engines, platform and transmissions.

Dubbed the i20 mini-MPV, the model is expected to be marketed in Europe only. It will be built alongside Kia Venga at Hyundai's European manufacturing plant that has a capacity tp build 300.000 new vehicles per year.

There are no images of the upcoming Hyundai i20 mini-MPV on the web at the moment, but we are expecting to see at least some teaser shots released by Hyundai ahead of Geneva Motor Show. With new models, such as mini-MPV, Hyundai sales in Europe is expected to grow significantly in 2010.

Gallery: Hyundai i20 mini-MPV vs. 2010 Opel Meriva

Hyundai India posts December 2009 sales report

Hyundai announced today that it has sold 22.6 percent more new cars in India during the month of December 2009 compared to the same month a year earlier.

According to Hyundai's monthly sales report, the company sold 47217 new vehicles in India last month, while in the same month a year earlier, the Korean largest automaker sold 38502 new vehicles in the fast growing car market.

Hyundai Motor India produces small cars such as i20 and i10 hatchback and about half of them are sold in India, while the rest of them are destined for markets overseas, including Europe and other Asian markets.

During the last month of 2009, the i10, i20 and Santro mini-car have been the top performing Hyundai vehicles with sales topping at 44129 units. In addition, Hyundai also sold a little more than 3000 units of Accent hatchback and 20 units of Hyundai Sonata sedan.

According to Arvind Saxena, director of Marketing and Sales of Hyundai Motor India, the overall economic situation have in India have improved and the automotive market seems to have stabilized.

Overall Hyundai sales during all 12 months of the year increased by 15 percent to 559880 units, compared to 489343 new vehicles sold a year earlier. Hyundai revealed its Indian sales soared 18 percent (to 289863 units ) when compared to 2008, while sales overseas increased to 270017 new Hyundai cars.