2009 Seoul Motor Show @ KINTEX

A great fanfare is happening in Ilsan District

A total of 158 companies will participate: five Korean automakers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM Daewoo, Renault Samsung, and SsangYong Motor, 120 local parts-makers, and 33 foreign firms from nine countries. 149 kinds of automobiles, 81 Korean cars and 68 foreign vehicles will be exhibited

Event for 10 days commences: April 2nd, 2009 (thurs) – April 11th, 2009 (sat)

NEWS –

April 3rd, 2009 –

Invitees crowd the Seoul Motor Show yesterday. The show opens to the public today at Kintex in Ilsan, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

The focus of this year’s motor show in Seoul is eco-friendly technology, as carmakers rush to unveil their latest products ranging from liquefied petroleum gas hybrids to electric-powered vehicles.

However, the spreading depression in the industry is evident, and some foreign automakers are absent from this year’s show. This year 158 companies, including auto parts suppliers from nine countries, participated in the biannual event, which began in 1995. The show runs through April 12.

Kintex hosted a press day yesterday, before the show opens today. This is the seventh biannual exhibition since its inception in 1995. Among the 149 vehicles on display at Kintex, some 30 cars incorporate eco-friendly technologies that claim to boost fuel efficiency.

Additionally, nine of the vehicles introduced by the five Korean automakers, including Renault Samsung Motors’ SM3 and Ssangyong Motor’s new urban style compact SUV C200, are making their global debut.


	Hyundai Motor’s Avante LPI Hybrid makes its global debut at the Seoul Motor Show at Kintex yesterday. The vehicle is the first to incorporate liquefied petroleum gas technology on a hybrid vehicle, according to the company. [YONHAP]

GM Daewoo also presented its new Matiz, a product that the company hopes will boost international sales. Michael Grimaldi, chief executive of GM Daewoo, said it will export the vehicle to the European and Asian markets, where there is a huge demand for compact vehicles, in 2010, and to the U.S. in 2011.

In addition, Hyundai Motor unveiled its Avante LPI Hybrid, scheduled for commercial sales in July, at the motor show. The company said the vehicle was the world’s first hybrid car to incorporate liquefied petroleum gas technology that emits no pollution. GM Daewoo introduced the long-awaited plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, which is scheduled to be commercially produced in 2010, while Toyota, the frontrunner in hybrid technology, brought in its eco-friendly Prius to the Korean market for the first time.

Ssangyong Motor presented the diesel hybrid of its high-end Kyron and Actyon SUVs.

While all five Korean automakers participated in the event, only eight foreign automakers – Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Ford, Lincoln, Honda, Lexus and Toyota – are displaying vehicles. BMW and GM (excluding GM Daewoo vehicles) were nowhere to be found.

The Korean automakers were promoting their vehicles aggressively, even employing high-priced entertainers such as the popular girls group Girls’ Generation to boost sagging sales.

First-quarter sales for the five Korean automakers have plummeted 21.2 percent from the same period last year to 1.07 million units. While domestic sales sunk 14.6 percent in the first three months of this year to 255,809 units, overseas sales saw a sharper drop of 23.1 percent to 815,886 year-on-year. Even leading Korean automaker Hyundai Motor was not immune, with a 13.5 percent drop in sales on-year.

Although foreign automakers are participating in the event, some remained reluctant to offer the discounts aggressively sought by Korean automakers. “We have no discount plans,” said Harald Behrend, chief executive of Mercedes-Benz Korea, who added that the German automaker was more concerned with preventing price increases caused by the depreciation of the Korean won against foreign currencies.

By Lee Ho-jeong [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]

***

More from Chosun Ilbo
The 2009 Seoul Motor Show will be held at KINTEX in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province for 10 days from Apr. 2. Marking its 7th anniversary, the biennial event is the only Korean auto show recognized by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles (OICA), or the World Automobile Trade Association. Since this show opens with a preview exclusive to the media, people can visit from this Friday. The show’s organizer expects some 10,000 buyers from home and abroad, as well as over a million visitors.
A total of 158 companies will participate: five Korean automakers, including Hyundai, Kia, GM Daewoo, Renault Samsung, and SsangYong Motor, 120 local parts-makers, and 33 foreign firms from nine countries. 149 kinds of automobiles, 81 Korean cars and 68 foreign vehicles will be exhibited.

As the car industry is struggling, the exhibition has been significantly scaled down from the last one in 2007. While all Korean automakers will be on show, more than one in two foreign automakers is not participating. Only eight brands by six automotive firms, including Audi, Ford, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen will display their products in the show, while 13 foreign carmakers, such as BMW, Chrysler, GM and Nissan, have decided not to take part.

http://www.korea4expats.com/events-in-korea-Seoul-Motor-Show-3-12-April-KINTEX-Seoul-1571.html

KoSoo Picture Perfect