Dow Jones reports that DaimlerChrysler said Thursday that a few ‘minor’ issues would probably delay the planned March launch of its commercial vehicle joint venture with Hyundai.
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“There’s some talk of it being delayed by a month,” DaimlerChrysler spokesman Othmar Stein told Dow Jones. “It’s more administrative than anything.”
The report also said that Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported Wednesday that the deal would be postponed due to opposition from Hyundai Motor union members who want job guarantees for workers transferred to the operation.
The joint venture will be formed via the spinning off of Hyundai Motor’s commercial vehicle operations and forms a significant part of DC’s Asian market penetration strategy.
DC is expected to invest around 400 million euros in the venture. The new venture incorporated in the previously established Daimler Hyundai Truck Corporation (DHTC) – which includes the engine joint venture – will also produce trucks, buses and components.
DaimlerChrysler’s commercial vehicle division will thus gain direct access to a commercial vehicle producer which occupies the top position in the third largest market in Asia. DHTC is the clear market leader by a substantial margin in the domestic Korean commercial vehicle sector. Additionally, both partners are already building an engine plant together in Chonju, which will commence production of the Mercedes-Benz 900 series in 2004.
DC has also announced plans to purchase 43% of the spun-off commercial vehicle business of Mitsubishi Motors for approximately 760 million euros. That venture is expected to be formed in 2003.
