By Park Jin-hai
Hyundai Motor will invest 2 trillion won in facilities and research to boost its commercial vehicle segment over the next five years.
It will expand its Jeonju plant’s annual capacity to 100,000 by 2020, it said Monday.
The 2 trillion won breaks down to 400 trillion won for investment in plants, and 1.6 trillion won for research and development in the field.
The plant will crank up its capacity to 85,000 by 2017, and 100,000 or up 54 percent from last year, by 2020.
It currently produces 65,000 cars.
When completed, the plant will manufacture high-end commercial vehicles as well as strategic models for emerging markets, becoming the production center for the company’s commercial vehicles.
The company intends to export upscale commercial models to western European nations and the North American market it has not yet entered.
The commercial vehicle sector has been forecast to grow 27 percent into a nearly 4 million market by 2020, from 3 million in 2014.
The sector has been expanding at a rate of 4.2 percent per year.
The world’s fifth-largest carmaker captured 2 percent of the global commercial vehicle sector.
Its production increased 27 percent between 2004 and 2014, showing a stark contrast to its fast-growing passenger car segment.
The company’s research center in Jeonju will be charge of developing new cars and designs, while its Namyang Research Center will study the commercialization of the developed vehicles.