Autoblog

Ford is launching the Taurus in South Korea at the end of the month where it's expected to compete with locally manufactured sedans like Kia's Opirus, which we know in the U.S. as the Amanti. Korean versions of the Taurus will get the same 263-hp 3.6L V6 and six-speed auto as U.S. spec cars, putting it in good steed against the local competition. Ford officials are well aware of the Blue Oval's budget image, even overseas in places like Korea, and have no ambitions of targeting brands like Lexus and other imports.

The Taurus is a long standing US nameplate, selling in the States for more than twenty years now, but there's not much cachet in the badge in foreign markets. In recent times, the car has lost favor back and home and even led Ford to replace it with the new Five Hundred sedan. Realizing the mistake of throwing away almost two decades of history, Ford's new CEO Alan Mulally set about reinstating the name and thus it reappeared this year on a facelifted version of the Five Hundred. Of course, all this means nothing to the Koreans, who we're sure will have an affinity for their local brands.

[Source: Korea Herald via Winding Road]

It's summertime, and that means swimming, road trips and union labor strikes that disrupt the flow of exports out of South Korea. The recent strikes at auto assembly plants in South Korea have caused Hyundai to suspend vehicle exports for the time being. No worries, though. Hyundai has built up a three-month stock of vehicles Hyundais and Kias already shipped overseas. That doesn't mean the strikes aren't taking their toll, though. So far, The Detroit News reports the strikes have cost Hyundai 78,616 vehicles in lost production, which is worth about $1.13 billion.

[Source: The Detroit News]

George Soros is said to be looking at investing $200M into Chinese automaker Chery to help its efforts in exporting low-cost vehicles to the United States. How this dovetails into Malcolm Bricklin's efforts to do the same with his Visionary Vehicles company is not yet clear; Bricklin is said to have confirmed the amount of the pending investment, but won't state the source of the money. Soros' fortune, earned mostly by currency speculation, is estimated at $7B, but we're not aware of any prior investment in automotive ventures.

Bricklin earlier this month stated that the stateside arrival of Chery vehicles will be postponed and ratcheted down his sales projections. Last month, executives from Chery are said to have met with representatives from Chrysler concerning the production of an inexpensive small car for the US market. It would appear that this saga has a few more twists and turns left in it before the first Chinese import lands in America.

[Source: Automotive News/Autoweek]