Hyundai Motor to build third plant in China

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest carmaker, will build a third plant in China with capacity to make 400,000 vehicles a year to meet rising demand in the world’s largest auto market.

The factory will bring Hyundai’s production capacity in China to 1 million vehicles a year, the Seoul-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. Construction of the plant, in Beijing, is to be completed in 2012, according to the statement.

Hyundai Motor aims to boost sales in China to 670,000 vehicles this year from 570,000 last year, as the nation’s growing economy spurs demand for automobiles. The carmaker sold about 437,000 units in the country in the eight first months of this year, it said in today’s statement.

Noh Jae Man, president of Hyundai’s Chinese venture, said in November the carmaker was planning to spend about $800 million to build a third Chinese plant that would be completed in 2011. The factory would make cars larger than subcompacts and have capacity of about 300,000 units, he said at the time.

Hyundai Motor rose 4.7% to close at 155,000 won in Seoul trading today, while the benchmark Kospi index gained 0.9 percent.