First Hyundai Motor Plant In Europe

The first European plant of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. was officially opened in the beginning of this week in Nošovice. On Monday the new facility began series production (trial production started a week earlier). The cost of new project is approximately about EUR 1 billion euro (USD 1.3 billion), the planned full production capacity is up to 300,000 cars per year, which constitute about 5 percent of Hyundai Motor global output (to be reached by 2011).

The plant is the third largest producing capacity in the Czech Republic and is designed to produce models destined for European market. In total about 3,400 new jobs will be created. Also the new plant will be very beneficial for the Czech economy. It is especially important in today’s condidions of total slowdown and stagnation. Industry and Trade Minister of the Czech Republic Martin Říman estimated that this project will raise the country’s GDP by nearly 1 percent and the foreign trade surplus will likely grow by up to CZK 50 billion a year.

Today Hyundai Motor Co., a division of Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, is one of the largest world’s automakers belonging to the Top-10 automotive companies on the globe. The headquarter is located in Seoul, South Korea, but the company has production facilities in many countries, including the USA, China, India, Turkey, etc. Another plant in Europe is scheduled to open in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, in 2009.

Photo: Hyundai i30 by Rudolf Stricker (wikimedia.org)