Hyundai Motor Group News

Hyundai Glovis, a logistics company headquartered in Seoul and part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, has secured 1.42 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) in orders to ship vehicles, said a report in RTT News. The auto freight unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group quoted as saying that the orders are to ship vehicles built by Hyundai Motor Co. and its smaller affiliate Kia Motors Corp. The report said that, under the two separate deals, Hyundai Glovis said it is set to ship Hyundai and Kia cars to the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia until December 2019. The two deals cover up to 60 percent of Hyundai and Kia's exports, respectively. Last year, Hyundai Glovis signed a share purchase agreement with Eusu Ship Management Co., Ltd.

A bankruptcy of Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) would become the biggest ever in the shipping sector, and the creditors seem on the way to taking over control with the shipping group. Without further government support, bankruptcy is growing closer for Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) after the company's bondholders rejected the company's proposed debt rescheduling plan, says Alphaliner. "The potential bankruptcy of the financially troubled South Korean carrier would be the largest-ever in container shipping. Based on the total vessel container capacity operated by the respective insolvent carriers, a failure of HMM would dwarf all previous bankruptcies in this sector," said Alphaliner, noting that the company's survival seems to depend on a government bail out.

Hyundai Glovis Co., South Korean shipping firm, clinched a $100 million shipping service contract with a building materials firm in Qatar, reports Yonhap news agency. According to the agreement signed with state-run Qatar Primary Materials Co., Hyundai will transport 12 million tons of aggregates to the Arab nation from neighboring United Arab Emirates for the next two years. The aggregates imported by the Qatari government are to be used in the construction of facilities for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by the country. Kim Kyung-bae, chairman of Hyundai Glovis, the logistics unit under auto conglomerate Hyundai Motor Group, said that the a test deal will be a chance for his company to promote its competitiveness in the Middle Eastern logistics industry.

Chung Ju-yung, the rags-to-riches founder of South Korea's mighty Hyundai industrial empire, died on Wednesday aged 85. Born into a poverty-stricken farming family in 1915 in what is now North Korea, Chung helped propel South Korea from the ashes of civil war into an industrial powerhouse. Chung died in hospital from complications from pneumonia, hospital officials said. Chung left home at 18 to seek his fortune against the will of his father who wanted his first son to feed his family. He earned his first wage as a rice delivery boy. His first step on the road to riches came with his first ventures, a lorry firm and car repair company in the waning days of Japan's 1910-45 occupation of Korea.