Hyundai Motor Co. said Monday it plans to
build a factory in Russia, though key details including the location
of the plant and size of the investment remain undecided.
Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-koo disclosed the plan in a
meeting with Russian government officials in Moscow on Friday,
Hyundai spokesman Ki Jin-ho said.
Chung said the factory would have an annual capacity of 100,000
vehicles, according to Ki. Where the factory was to be built and how
much it would cost were to be determined later, he said.
Demand for autos is growing fast in Russia and Hyundai needs to
respond, Ki said.
Hyundai currently has factories in China, India, Turkey and the
United States, with another under construction in the Czech
Republic.
The automaker, the world's sixth largest, produces vehicles in
co-operation with a Russian partner by exporting kits for local
assembly.
Ki said Hyundai is the biggest seller of foreign vehicles in
Russia. In October, Hyundai sold 16,489 vehicles, an increase of 92
per cent from the same period last year.