Hyundai Opens €1B Manufacturing Plant in Czech Republic
26 September 2009
Hyundai Motor Co., officially opened its €1 billion (US$1.5 billion) manufacturing plant in Nošovice, Czech Republic.
With mass production having started in November last year, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC), a fully-owned subsidiary of Seoul-based Hyundai Motor Co., has the current capacity to build 200,000 vehicles annually, which will be increased by 100,000 to reach 300,000 units per year in 2011.
The first vehicle to be produced was the i30 C-class five-door hatchback, and was joined by its sister model, the i30cw (estate wagon), in February of this year. The third model to be built by HMMC will be the Kia Venga, a B-segment MPV, production of which will start in the last quarter of 2009, while a fourth model will be added in 2011, when production capacity will be increased to 300,00 units per annum in a three shift operation.
With the completion of the Czech factory, Hyundai Motor now has a production foothold in all major markets, including the USA, China, India and Turkey.
Production of the i30 hatchback and wagon, both designed at Hyundai’s European Design and Technical Center in Russelsheim, Germany, recently hit 80,000 units since November of last year. Approximately 90% of the models rolling out of the Nošovice plant are sold in Europe, while the remaining 10% are exported to the Middle East and Africa.
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