Hyundai Starts Construction of Its Third Plant in China

Hyundai's Chinese joint venture with Beijing Automotive Industry (BAIC), Beijing Hyundai, has begun working on its third manufacturing plant in China, on the outskirts of Beijing. The new plant will be fully functional in 2012 and will have a yearly capacity of 300,000 units, with the possibility to further expand it to deliver 400,000 units, bringing Hyundai’s production capacity to one million cars per year in China alone

“When the third plant is up and running, Beijing Hyundai will speed up the introduction of Hyundai's medium-to-high end models to further expand its portfolio," said BAIC chairman Xu Heyi.

BAIC is expected to sell about 700,000 vehicles in China this year, up 23% from 2009. China is one of Hyundai’s fastest growing markets with 59,287 sales in October, up 23% year on year, thanks to its successful small car and SUV line up. Beijing Hyundai makes Accent, i30, Verna, ix35 and Tucson model, and will release a new Sonata sedan next year, according to the company's vice president, Hsiu-Fu Wang. New models, including an SUV, will be added after the construction of Hyundai's third plant will be completed.

A growing number of global carmakers are expanding their activity in China, with Ford building a greenfield car and engine plant with partners Chongqing Changan Automobile and Mazda, GM seeking a site for a new manufacturing plant, and now Hyundai, which continues its expansion on Chinese land.

The Chinese car market continued to expand, in spite of the global financial crisis, and will keep on growing at a rate of in between 10-15% in 2011 and beyond.