Hyundai, BAIC to invest $1.1 billion in China joint venture (updated)

Baic Motor

11/12/2024 12:19

(Writes through with context from the second paragraph)
       SHANGHAI, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor  005380.KS 
and its Chinese partner BAIC Motor  1958.HK  on Wednesday agreed
to invest $1.1 billion in their joint venture that produces and
sells Hyundai cars in China, BAIC said in a statement. 
    The move signals the South Korean automaker's commitment to
the world's largest car market despite its declining sales there
and the loss of market share to Chinese rivals such as BYD
 1211.HK  since 2018. 
    Hyundai's annual sales in China last year fell to 249,000
vehicles, nearly one-fifth of the brand's peak in 2016, while
the joint venture with BAIC - called Beijing Hyundai - has
closed two of its four Chinese plants.
    The investment - split equally between the two companies -
will increase the total registered capital of the 22-year-old
joint venture to $4.074 billion, Beijing government-owned BAIC
said in a filing.  
    BAIC said the venture planned to introduce more products
tailored to Chinese consumer needs and export more to
international markets.
    Beijing Hyundai sold 136,460 vehicles, nearly all of them
internal combustion engine cars, in the first nine months this
year, with 34,179 of them exported, according to data from the
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
    Pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids have made up more
than half of China's car market this year. Hyundai has no such
models on sale in China right now. 

 (Reporting by Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh. Editing by Andrew
Heavens and Mark Potter)
 ((Zoey.Zhang@thomsonreuters.com;))