Hyundai to Enter China’s Commercial Vehicle Market

- Hyundai establishes a 50-50 joint venture, Sichuan Hyundai Motor Company

- Joint venture aims to produce 160,000 buses and trucks a year by 2013

Hyundai Motor Company, South Korea’s largest automaker, today signed an agreement to establish a joint venture company with China’s Sichuan Nanjun Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (Nanjun Auto) to enter the world’s biggest commercial vehicle market.

A signing ceremony was held at the Jinjiang Hotel in Chengdu, Sichuan, to launch Sichuan Hyundai Motor Company (Sichuan Hyundai). The ceremony was attended by Hyundai executives and government officials, including Mong-Koo Chung, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Company, Yu Woo-ik, Korean Ambassador to China, Liu Qibao, Secretary of the Sichuan Provincial Committee and Sun Zhentian, Chairman of Nanjun Auto.

Hyundai Motor and Nanjun Auto, which signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the 50-50 joint venture last October, will make a total investment of 600 billion won. The joint venture, Sichuan Hyundai, will be established later this year in Ziyang City, Sichuan Province. While utilizing Nanjun Auto’s existing facilities in the beginning, Sichuan Hyundai will aggressively invest in adding to and improving its facilities. The completion of a new plant will enable Sichuan Hyundai to annually roll out up to 160,000 units (150,000 trucks and 10,000 buses) starting from 2013.

Sichuan Hyundai will carry out a strategy of operating two differentiated brands to efficiently penetrate the market: It will improve Nanjun Auto’s existing models to cater to value-for-money consumers, while nurturing new Hyundai models as a high-end brand.

Hyundai expects Nanjun Auto’s stable position in the Chinese commercial vehicle market, combined with Hyundai’s advanced technology, will create a powerful synergy for success. Furthermore, Hyundai is confident it can swiftly secure a leading position in the Chinese commercial vehicle market by utilizing experience from its passenger car joint venture, Beijing Hyundai Motor Co.

China’s commercial vehicle market is expected to surge from 4.3 million units in 2010 to 5.2 million units in 2015 due to strong demand, as industrialization especially in the western regions progresses rapidly. Hyundai aims to sell 73,000 commercial vehicles in China this year, expanding to 160,000 units around 2015 with a market share of 3 percent.

Established in 1998, Sichuan Nanjun Automobile Group Co., Ltd now stands as China’s 11^th largest commercial vehicle maker, operating two plants in Chengdu and Ziyang City with an annual capacity of 120,000 units.