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Employees inspect finished cars at Hyundai Motor’s plant in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Yonhap) |
Hyundai Motor confirmed Tuesday it is seeking to acquire General Motors’ production facility in St. Petersburg, Russia.
“We are discussing acquisition of the plant with GM,” a Hyundai official said.
The South Korean carmaker has sought approval from the antitrust agency in Russia, an essential measure to take over the factory. The agency will decide on granting permission if it does not violate the law.
The St. Petersburg plant opened in 2008 with an investment of about $300 million by the US-based automaker. However, operations were suspended in 2015 in the wake of Russia’s economic slump.
Hyundai has run an automobile production plant in St. Petersburg with an annual production capacity of 230,000 units since 2011. It produces locally customized models such as Solaris, compact sport utility vehicle Creta and Kia Rio.
Alongside Hyundai, Belarusian-British automobile company Unison and Germany’s BMW are also reported to be interested in acquiring GM’s plants.
According to Russian media reports, Unison received permission from the antitrust agency last year, but negotiations have not progressed since then.
By Shin Ji-hye (
shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
