S.Korea's Myongshin to build EVs for Chinese brand at ex-GM plant (updated)

MS AUTOTECH

25/09/2019 11:28

(Add background, detail)
    SEOUL, Sept 25 (Reuters) - South Korea's Myongshin has
agreed to build more than 50,000 electric vehicles a year for
Chinese venture Future Mobility Corp (FMC) at a closed plant it
bought from General Motors  GM.N .
    A parts supplier to Hyundai Motor  005380.KS  and Tesla Inc
 TSLA.O , Myongshin signed a deal on Wednesday to build the
electric vehicles for FMC's Byton brand beginning in 2021, the
government of Jeonbuk province said in a statement.
    The deal comes as made-in-China vehicles exported to the
United States are currently subject to tariffs. Sales of cars
made in South Korea can avoid those tariffs.
    Myongshin bought a factory from GM's local unit for 113
billion won ($94 million) in June after the U.S. carmaker closed
one of its four South Korean plants last year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N21G0LG
    Myongshin will produce Byton's M-Byte electric SUV in the
factory in the southwestern city of Gunsan, the Jeonbuk
provincial government said. 
    The cars will be sold in South Korea and overseas, Park
Ho-seok, vice president of Myongshin, told Reuters. 
    The plant could allow FMC to take advantage of South Korea’s
free trade deal with the United States and Europe, as well as
the country's electric car supply chain.
    Former BMW  BMWG.DE  and Nissan Motor  7201.T  executives
co-founded Chinese electric-car venture FMC, which in September
2017 named its brand "Byton". 
    FMC, the parent company, plans to launch the vehicles in the
United States and Europe soon after starting sales in China in
2019.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1Z71ES
($1 = 1,199.3900 won)

 (Reporting by Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin; editing by Ju-min
Park and Jason Neely)
 ((Heekyong.Yang@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5647;))