By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Hyundai Mobis, the nation's biggest auto parts company, is gearing up for an ambitious move into the Chinese market.
The Korean firm inked a $40 million supply contract with Chinese automaker Changsha Zhongtai Motors, it said Sunday.
Mobis will provide Zhongtai Motors with brake parts for its Lybra model for five years from 2009. Wuxi Mobis, the company's local unit, will produce the parts.
Zhongtai, also known as Zotye Auto outside China, was established last year. Located in Hunan Province, the manufacturer is planning to launch local editions from Fiat, Lybra and Multipla, from next year.
The deal lifted Mobis to a landmark $160 million in contracts on aggregate in China, since its first contract in the world's fastest-growing vehicles market in 2006. The supplier expects the figure to rise to $200 million this year.
``The contract will give us more opportunities to supply foreign automakers,'' said Yim Chae-young, vice president and module business head of Hyundai Mobis.
``We plan to extend our business to Chinese plants of global top-notch automobile companies and try to enter the North American and European markets.''
Hyundai Mobis, an affiliate of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, has long looked beyond South Korea. It has hosted dozens of auto parts exhibitions overseas while participating in renowned motor shows since 2000.
The company, which completed a new test center in China earlier this month, aims to become one of the world's top 10 auto parts makers by 2010 and also greatly increases core auto parts supply for makers other than Hyundai Mobis and Kia Motors.