Hyundai Motor to tap U.S. commercial vehicle market

Apparently buoyed by its success in passenger car sales worldwide, Hyundai Motor Co., plans to tap into the U.S. commercial vehicle market within a few years, a Hyundai executive said Sunday.

Hyundai Motor, together with its sister Kia Motor Corp., is currently the world's fifth largest automaker. It has recently signed a $400 million joint truck-making venture with China's sixth-largest truck maker Baotou Bei Ben Heavy-Duty Truck Co.

"We plan to enter into the U.S. commercial vehicle market in two to three years, following the launch of a commercial vehicle venture in China," Choi Han-young, the vice chairman of commercial vehicle business said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "We don't have a specific plan about the U.S. market, but it will be in a form of a joint venture like the one in China."

"Europe will be our next target, after the U.S.," Choi said, adding that Hyundai's immediate goal is to become an important player in China's fast-growing truck market.

"Our partner Baotou Bei Ben is forecast to sell 30,000 commercial vehicles this year," Choi said. "But with some upgrades of existing models and introduction of new models, the new venture is estimated to sell 100,000 units by 2014, or 20 percent of the Chinese market."

Hyundai currently produces 60,000 commercial vehicles a year, all in South Korea.

Choi said Hyundai hopes to become the supplier of 200,000 commercial vehicles a year worldwide by 2013, helped by its planned entry into China and the U.S., the world's two largest commercial vehicle markets.