Hyundai Motor Co plans to leave Russia and sell its factories to a Kazakh company. How informed Reuters citing the South Korean TV channel MBC, negotiations are in the final stages, the automaker awaits final approval from the Russian government.
If the deal goes through, the automaker plans to secure the right to buy out the business at any time, according to MBC. At the same time, the TV channel did not specify which company Hyundai Motor agreed with, but in the TV report it showed the building with the logo of Astana Motors. As can be seen from the information on website the company has two factories in Kazakhstan that produce Hyundai cars, as well as a dealer network selling, among other things, cars of this brand.
The automaker also considered selling the plant to the Russian government, but a deal with a third-country company was seen as safer, according to MBC. “Indeed, negotiations on the sale are ongoing, but nothing has been decided yet,” Hyundai Motor told the TV station.
The fact that Kazakh companies are claiming Hyundai assets in early April writing Kommersant, citing his sources. According to the newspaper, they can keep the production of components for their assembly sites in Kazakhstan in St. Petersburg.
Hyundai in Russia has a main car plant in Solnechnogorsk (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus LLC, HMMR), as well as a nearby engine plant owned by Hyundai subsidiary Wia and a site purchased from GM in Shushary. As Kommersant noted with reference to the company’s financial statements for 2022, the company wrote off 172.8 billion won (10.5 billion rubles) due to the writedown of the cost of XMMR and 114 billion won additional – for the engine plant.
In March 2022, many major foreign automakers announced the suspension or restriction of operations in Russia due to the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. Among them were Toyota, Suzuki, Mercedes Benz, Ford, Infiniti, Honda, Volvo, Nissan, Skoda, Renault, Volkswagen, Hyundai, KIA and others.
In late 2022, Vedomosti reported that at Hyundai Motor’s idle plant in St. begin stamping of parts, welding and painting of bodies for Hyundai Solaris. According to the newspaper, these bodies are not intended for Russia – they were sent to the company’s plant in Alma-Ata to assemble cars there.
The Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg was opened at the end of 2010. It produced sedans and hatchbacks Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio, as well as Hyundai Creta. The factory is designed to produce up to four models simultaneously.
Check out Russian media’s infographic to find out which automakers have announced the sale of their assets in Russia.
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