Hyundai Mobis in world’s top 10 suppliers

Hyundai Mobis, Korea’s leading auto parts maker, was named one of the world’s top 10 suppliers on the back of robust sales, an industry report showed Sunday.

According to the report by Detroit-based Automotive News, Mobis was ranked as the eighth-largest parts manufacturers in 2010 in terms of sales, up four notches from the previous year.

Its revenue jumped 28.7 percent to $14.43 billion last year as the Seoul-headquartered company nearly doubled supply volume in North America, aided by a spike in demand for Hyundai and Kia cars.

Mobis supplies about 90 percent of output to Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group.

Combined shares of Hyundai and Kia are expected to top 10 percent in the U.S. for the first time this month, according to an industry survey.

In a separate ranking for the North American region, the supplier secured 11th place with more than $2.74 billion in sales.

“Our ultimate goal is to ensure key technologies that reach the of the global top five companies, and to transform into a manufacturer specialized in electronic sub assemblies,” Hyundai Mobis chief executive and vice chairman Chung Suk-soo said. “We will make best efforts to strengthen global competitiveness of Hyundai and Kia and win supply contracts from foreign automakers by continuing to acquire key technologies and marketing abilities.”

In January, Mobis announced sales goal of 26 trillion won ($24 billion) along with a bold investment plan worth 1.15 trillion won for this year.

Of the total, 360 billion will be pumped into research and development for high-tech systems.

The company plans to build a new R&D facility by 2012 equipped with a testing system for the majority of its automotive components. It wants to secure more engineering experts in information technology, software, electronic engineering and mechatronics.

“In the mid and long term, we are going to move the centerpiece of our value creation structure from manufacturing to cutting-edge, high-value added segments of the market,” a Mobis official said.

In December, the manufacturer won a $260 million supply contract for integrated center stack equipment by GM, which is used to control various onboard convenience features including multimedia devices.

Under the deal, Mobis will supply about 460,000 ICS units for Chevrolet and an additional 130,000 units for GM’s Australian subsidiary Holden from 2013.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)