Hyundai Motor Pushing to Produce Kona Electric in Czech Factory
Hyundai Motor is pushing for production of the Kona Electric at its Czech factory from the first half of next year. The Czech plant is emerging as Hyundai Motor’s overseas production base for eco-friendly vehicles as it is already scheduled to produce the Tucson Hybrid and Tucson PHEV.
Hyundai Motor is considering producing 46,000 units of the Kona Electric at its Czech plant next year, industry sources said on July 17. This volume is almost equal to the 48,000 units to be produced at the company’s Ulsan plant this year.
To this end, Hyundai Motor plans to invest 105.7 billion won in its Czech plant this year. The company has already invested 2.8 billion won in the first quarter of this year for plant expansion and improvement. Most of the investment is expected to be made in the second half of the year as the company is preparing to start volume production of eco-friendly cars at the plant in the first half of next year.
Hyundai Motor started exporting the Kona Electric in February last year and exported 11,685 cars in total by December last year. Exports of the Kona, including its electric version, reached 200,279 units last year, the third largest export volume among Korean cars. The Hyundai Tucson, the GM Korea Trax and the Hyundai Kona were the only three models that sold more than 200,000 units overseas last year. @HyundaiCZ @HyundaiEurope @strakovka