South Korea's auto industry is facing increasingly tough times given a strong won, high oil prices and sluggish domestic consumption, an executive of the biggest carmaker said yesterday.
"The environment surrounding the South Korean auto industry is increasingly deteriorating," Hyundai Motor Co vice chairman Kim Dong-jin told a conference organized by the Federation of Korean Industries.
"There are big risk factors going forward such as a strong won, a weak yen, higher oil prices and a downturn in domestic consumption," Yonhap news agency quoted Kim as saying.
Hyundai, which, together with affiliate Kia Motors Corp, is the world's sixth-largest automaker, said the firm's sustainable growth is being threatened by global competition and growing safety and environmental regulations.
In addition to the won's strength against the US dollar and a rise in raw material prices, the weak yen is fueling exports by Japanese rivals Toyota and Honda.
Hyundai also faces falling productivity and shrinking profits. Net profit plunged 34 percent to 1.53 trillion won (US$1.63 billion) last year because of strikes and the won's rise.
The firm faced another strike threat yesterday after Hyundai's union said it might go on strike after wages talks broke down.
"Anything is possible," Ji Jin-sung, a union official said.
Union leaders will meet on Monday to decide on what steps to take, he said.
The automaker offered a 5.4 percent increase in base salary and annual bonuses equal to three months' wages before the talks collapsed, it said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Talks may resume, Hyundai spokesman Jake Jang said by telephone.
The company did not say how much the union was seeking in the wage negotiations.
Workers at Kia Motors, a Hyundai Motor affiliate, accepted a 5.2 percent salary raise and annual bonuses equal to one-and-a-half months worth of salary on Aug. 17.
Stoppages over wages in July last year cost the automaker production of 80,752 vehicles, valued at 1.12 trillion won.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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