Hyundai's Accent Enters Asia-Car Competition

08/23/96

Comline reported that Korean carmaker Hyundai will rejoin Japanese and American carmakers in the fight to win market share in the Asian car market. Hyundai will produce its own "Asia Car" in Thailand, using the Accent as its prototype. Hyundai's decision comes as an attempt to recover market share that the automaker has lost since Honda introduced its "Asia Car," a version of the Civic.

Honda's Civic has been gaining popularity in Asia, and the automaker is confident that it will easily achieve its 20,000 unit sales goal for this year. The Civic's popularity forced Hyundai's plant in Thailand to stop operation, as its Excel lost competitiveness in terms of price.

Toyota Motor of Japan has also announced that it will produce an Asia Car, the AFC, which will be based on its Tercel.

Hyundai will expand the production capacity of its Thai plant to 100,000 units annually, and raise its localization rate to 70 percent. Accent sales will commence during the second quarter.

Paul Dever -- The Auto Channel