The Auto Writer

Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are aggressively expanding in the Chinese market to keep pace with demand and to increase market share. Kia is partly owned by Hyundai, thus their relationship.

Hyundai recently opened a new assembly plant and has launched a new model, the Yuedong, which is an upscale version of its Elantra sedan. Local partner Beijing Auto is distributing the new car.

In 2007, Kia opened a plant in China capable of producing 430,000 cars annually. Coupled with the capacity to build 300,000 units at the new Hyundai plant and the importing of additional models from Korea, including the luxury Genesis sedan, Hyundai and Kia believe that one million annual units will soon be within reach. For 2007, the companies saw a 10% drop in sales to just 230,000 units as competition from Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors heated up.

Hyundai officials are also looking at producing a car in the $5-6,000 range to compete with domestic Chinese manufacturers and to remain competitive with new entry-level models from Honda, GM, VW, and Toyota.

(Source: Edmunds.com)

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