Beijing Hyundai to sell its 2 mlnth vehicle this month

Shanghai, April 1 (Gasgoo.com) Hyundai Motor recently said its Beijing subsidiary will surpass sales of two million cars early this month since the joint venture (Beijing Hyundai) started production in December 2002, South Korea's donga.com reported yesterday.

Through its local car-making venture with Beijing Auto, Hyundai Motor predicted its cumulative sales in China to surpass two million units around April 8. In particular, sales of the mid-size sedan Elantra (called the Avante overseas) is expected to surpass one million units in mid-April.

Beijing Hyundai Motor Co. has revised its sales goal from 670,000 units to 729,500 for this year, up 28% from 570,309 units last year. The company ranked fourth in China's auto sales growth last year with 93.6%, following Shanghai VW (729,000 units), Shanghai GM (728,000) and FAW-VW (682,000).

The joint venture will start construction of the third factory in Beijing with a capacity of more than 300,000 vehicles, and build a production system able to churn out one million units annually by this year.

In addition, Hyundai Motor, the largest Korean carmaker, will introduce new models including the ix35 (the export name for Tucson) and RC (the follow-up model to the Verna) to China.

Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors sold a combined 811,695 vehicles in China last year, up 86%. Hyundai-Kia Group expects its China sales for 2010 to exceed one million vehicles.