Hyundai Motor on Sunday said it would boost vehicle assembly kit exports to Russia by 60% next year in a bid to expand its share of the fast-rising new car market there.


The automaker’s vice chairman and CEO, Kim Dong-jin, told Reuters Hyundai would sell car parts, including knock-down kits, for 80,000 vehicles in 2008 to TAGAZ, which assembles Hyundai’s passenger cars, compared to 50,000 units this year.


“We see Russia, an emerging market, has a high growth potential,” Kim told Reuters on the sidelines of a funeral for Byun Joong-seok, wife of late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung.


Citing data from the Association of European Business in the Russian Federation, Reuters said Hyundai sold 67,439 vehicles in Russia in the first seven months of this year, about 20% higher than the 56,294 units sold at this point a year ago.


Sales of foreign car brands in Russia jumped 67% during the seven months to 861,736 units, according the data reportedly showed.

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Over half of the Hyundai cars sold locally are already assembled by the independent Taganrog car plant (TAGAZ) in southern Russia under a licence agreement, the news agency noted.


Separately, a Hyundai Motor Group spokesman told Reuters that affiliate Kia’s president and CEO Cho Nam-hong had said it aims to post one trillion won ($US1.05bn) in operating profit in 2010, helped by cost cuts and new products – in contrast, Kia posted an operating loss of 125.3bn won last year.


Cho said Kia planned to invest 3 trillion won by 2010 in developing nine new cars, the Hyundai spokesman told Reuters.