Hyundai-Kia Motors goes global

Hyundai-Kia Motors announced on September 6 that it had finalized a plan to acquire managerial rights to a Chinese automaker and to transfer a 9% stake to DaimlerChrysler.

The Chinese automaker that Hyundai-Kia Motors has acquired is a company that Hyundai jointly established in 1998 with Jiangsu-Weda Group. With the merger, Hyundai purchased an additional 20% stake in the joint venture to take over its management.

The Chinese firm will produce Kia`s Rio model starting next year.

Hyundai-Kia will make an investment of US$40 million in the company to expand its annual production capacity to 20,000 cars. In the long run, Hyundai plans to build about 300,000 cars a year in China.

Capitalized at US$15 million, the Chinese automaker was set up on a site of 63,000 pyong around 2 million sq. meters in Jiangsu Province. The plant is turning out its own minicar model, Soboksung, and Kia`s subcompact Pride.

artemes@donga.com