Mr Ümit Karaarsalan chairman of the Hyundai Assan said that South Korean Hyundai is set to produce 50,000 units of its new i10 and sedan models in addition to plans of building a research and development facility and launching motor production in Turkey.
Hyundai is to transform Turkey into the small automobile production base-camp with a USD 1.1 billion investment in the northwestern province of İzmit, planning to finish enhancing its factory by the end of 2013. Around 30% of the investment has been completed so far.
Mr Karaarslan said that the growth will carry into the new year as well, as the company is set to produce a new model along with the i20 and i10, which will elevate production capacity to up to 200,000 units.
He said that “We will begin to produce new and bigger versions of the i10, which will be set between the i10 and i20. As part of the same platform we can easily produce a sedan, so as soon as we release the other model we will begin to work on sedan production. The quality perception of Hyundai cars is developing and the i20s produced in İzmit are contributing to this mentality.”
He added that Hyundai has become the second top automotive producer in the world following German companies, leaving the Japanese behind.
He further added that in addition to the new models, Hyundai plans to produce motors and build a research and development facility in İzmit, serving as a development center for Hyundai cars bound for the European market as well. The market dropped about 10% in 2012 and was around 800,000 units at the year-end.