Hyundai may oppose BAIC's IPO move

Shanghai, July 29 (Gasgoo.com) Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co (BAIC) is expected to float its passenger car business to the stock market this week. However, owing to its partner Hyundai Motor's opposition, it has never been able to determine its IPO timetable, China's media said toady.

According to earlier reports, BAIC will not float its commercial vehicles business (Beiqi Foton Motor) this time, which means the company's IPO package is likely to consist of Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd., Beijing Benz - Daimler Chrysler Automotive Co., Ltd., Beijing Automobile Works Co., Ltd. and Beijing Hainachuan Automotive Parts Co., Ltd., among which Beijing Hyundai has the greatest potential to attract investment, as BAIC's most profitable unit. 

Nevertheless, China's media lately says that Beijing Hyundai is strongly against BAIC's IPO, even attempting to block the regular audit work. BAIC and Hyundai have been cooperating on passenger car business for eight years, and the latter is always in a dominant position and has taken majority of  the profits from their Chinese joint venture through the purchase of auto parts . 

For all this, Beijing Hyundai only spent eight years in growing its sales to two million units, making it rank fifth among the domestic automakers in the mean time. Moreover, after integrating Saab's platform technology to its own brand models, BAIC is now more eager to raise capital to develop its own brand passenger vehicles. Well, the Korean automaker may worry its Chinese partner's own-brand cars could turn out to be a sturdy rival.