Friday , 29 March 2024

Hyundai eyeing Philippines for car assembly plant

South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai is considering the Philippines as its new location for a car assembly or car-parts manufacturing plant, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo told reporters recently. 

On the sidelines of the 2016 Manila International Auto Show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, Perez-Agudo said Hyundai is reviewing its business strategy for Southeast Asia, which will involve investments and complementing the assembly in the region.

“(We’re) reviewing not only investments, but (also a) possible complementation assembly in (the) Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), because there will be a swapping of products in terms of complementation,” she said.

She added that one of the strategies the company is looking at is putting up a manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia that can also serve as a source for Hyundai vehicles for the entire region.

When asked if the company is eying investments for manufacturing in the Philippines, Perez-Agudo said: “We’re getting there. But as I’ve said, we are currently reviewing the strength, the business strategy of Hyundai not only in the Philippines, but for the entire Asean.”

After China, the Philippines is the strongest partner of Hyundai in Southeast Asia, according to the president of HARI, the exclusive distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the country.

She said the HARI sales target for 2015 is 35,000 units, which is 15 percent higher than last year’s 22,058 units.

Hyundai is benefiting from the Asean-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which cuts tariff of South Korean cars imported to Southeast Asian markets from 25 percent to 5 percent, making South Korean-made cars more competitive in the region. PNA

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