Hyundai Motor Opens Second Automotive Assembly Plant in China

Hyundai Motor has reported that it has officially opened its second automotive assembly plant in China. The new plant, which cost $790 million and took 24 months to build, will produce Yuedong, a variant of the all-new Elantra.

The new plant, capable of initially building 200,000 units annually, is owned and operated by Beijing Hyundai Motor (BHMC), a 50-50 joint venture between Hyundai Motor and Beijing Automotive Industry.

With the completion of this new plant, BHMC’s production capacity now reaches 500,000 units annually, and as more new models are added to BHMC’s lineup of products, the production capacity of the second plant will be increased to 300,000 by 2010, bringing BHMC’s total capacity to 600,000 and reaching a market share of about 8%.

Mong-Koo Chung, chairman and CEO of Hyundai, said: “By expanding its production capacity to 600,000 units a year, Beijing Hyundai now surely stands as the greatest automaker in China.”