Hyundai Motor says may build Bulgarian parts plant

SEOUL, Nov 18, 2002, Reuters reported that South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co said on Monday it was considering building a parts plant in Bulgaria.

The South Korean automaker has posted healthy sales increases both domestically and overseas over the last several years, as its EF Sonata mid-sized passenger cars and Santa Fe sport utility vehicles gain wider appeal among consumers.

"The construction of an auto parts plant in Bulgaria is under consideration," a Hyundai Motor spokesman told Reuters, without elaborating.

Citing a Bulgarian government press release, the English-language Korea Herald newspaper reported Hyundai would decide by the end of this year whether to build the plant.

Earlier this year, Hyundai Motor president Kim Dong-jin said the automaker would conduct a feasibility study on a European car plant beginning next year, adding the plant would likely be built in Eastern Europe some time after 2005.

Hyundai plans to build a $1 billion auto plant in Alabama, its first in the United States, by 2005 in order to reduce trade friction and foreign exchange risks.

In April, the automaker formed a joint venture car plant with China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co and plans to invest $430 million by 2005 to expand output to 200,000 cars annually. The plant will roll out mid-sized EF Sonatas and compact Elantras beginning at the end of this year.

U.S.-German automaker DaimlerChryser AG owns ten percent of Hyundai.