Hyundai Motor said on Sept. 19 it would build its first South American auto plant in Brazil as part of its drive to go global. The company said it would spend $600 million for the plant in Piracicaba, 94 miles northwest of Sao Paolo. Hyundai said the plant in Brazil would help it achieve "sustainable growth and success" and compete with Japanese rivals in the fast-growing Brazilian market.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles and create some 4,000 jobs, when construction is completed in 2011.
The plant completes Hyundai Motor's expansion in "all of the world's major fast-growing markets and further diversifying its operations to seek stable growth," the company said.
The plant will be Hyundai Motor's seventh overseas production base. It now has factories in the U.S., China, India and Turkey and others are under construction in the Czech Republic and Russia.
The automaker has expanded its production base abroad to avoid a series of work stoppages at home and losses from foreign-currency fluctuations. Overseas production has increased from 18.8% in 2003 to 45.6% last year. Hyundai Motor aims to boost overseas production to two million by 2011.
Hyundai Motor with its affiliate Kia Motors forms the Hyundai Automotive Group, the world's sixth largest automaker, pushing to become number five.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
