Hyundai closed deal to acquire former GM plant in Russia

Since GM announced its withdrawal from the Russian market and the sale of its factory, Hyundai was the first interested in becoming a creditor of these facilities. After a few months of negotiations, the Korean firm officially becomes the owner.

Hyundai just bought the General Motors production center which operated in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg. After almost five years of inactivity, the plant will reopen its doors very soon to serve the South Korean manufacturer.

The negotiation, although it would have been finalized last November, was made official until now. This will be the second factory Hyundai in Russia, and in the same city to be exact. Your products for this market, of course brings together Hyundai and Kia models.

Facilities that had started operations in 2008 under GM’s baton, it closed seven years later as part of a restructuring plan for the American brand. While the Korean firm, with this acquisition, will be one of the manufacturers with greater capacity in the Russian territory.

Gaining ground

From Hyundai’s perspective, this treatment is favorable to grow in a market where its presence is already important, taking into account that after the Lada, it is the second best-selling brand. With this new center, your annual production capacity can be increased by up to 50%.

The factory that is currently active can produce some 200,000 vehicles per year, and if we add the 100,000 copies per year that can be manufactured in the facilities that used to be General Motors, will therefore mean significant business growth.

The numbers have been positive for Hyundai in Russia. Just to mention some data, 2019 closed the year in the second and third place in sales. With Kia it delivered 225,901 units and for Hyundai there were 178,809 vehicles sold. In the first quarter of 2020 both totaled 145,071 copies marketed.

Its ‘star’ model in said European country could be said to be the Chalk, where it is sold with an exclusive look and represents a good part of the compact SUV segment. Other locally produced models are the Hyundai Elantra, i30 N, Tucson, Santa Fe and Palisade and Sonata.