Hyundai Motor takes aim at Southeast Asia

Hyundai Motor Group is looking to spearhead the burgeoning auto markets within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, based on its established footings in a number of countries in that region, the South Korean auto conglomerate said Monday.

According to the automaker, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Indonesia, the conglomerate’s first vehicle manufacturing plant in the ASEAN region, rolled out 22,520 units in the first quarter of this year to reach an overwhelming operation rate of 110.9 percent. Hyundai Motor said the number was the highest among all overseas factories during that period.

The operation rate of HMMI stood at only 50.3 percent in the first quarter of last year, showing the rapidly increasing demand and supply for Hyundai vehicles there. The construction of HMMI was completed in September 2022 in the city of Bekasi in West Java.

Hyundai Motor has committed about $1.55 billion in HMMI through 2030. HMMI currently produces the Creta, a subcompact sports utility vehicle specifically developed to target the region, the Stargazer, a compact multi-purpose vehicle, another regionally-tailored model, the Santa Fe, a midsize SUV, and the Ioniq 5, the automaker’s multiple-awards-winning all-electric vehicle.

The accumulated number of car sales from HMMI was 192,792 units by the end of May this year.

Hyundai Motor also underscored the presence of local battery production for EVs, mentioning the joint battery cell production plant established between the automaker and Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution in Indonesia’s Karawang New Industry City in June last year.

Named HLI Green Power, the joint plant began mass production of battery cells in April this year. According to the automaker, the Kona Electric will be the first model to be equipped with locally produced battery cells. The company pointed out that it will make Hyundai Motor the first automaker in Indonesia to have the complete production and sales chain for EVs there.

Hyundai Motor sold 7,475 EVs in Indonesia, accounting for 43.8 percent of the total market to become the biggest EV seller last year. The automaker said despite its lead in the EV sector, Chinese EV brands have been aggressively expanding their presence in Indonesia, reiterating its plan to put more emphasis on the ASEAN region.

Besides HMMI, Hyundai Motor has also laid footholds in Vietnam and Singapore to tackle the ASEAN market.

In collaboration with Vietnamese multi-industry conglomerate Thanh Cong Group, Hyundai Motor set up a joint production venture named Hyundai Thanh Cong Vietnam Auto Manufacturing Corporation, or HTMV, in Vietnam in 2017. On top of the first manufacturing plant, they built a second production site in 2022 to bolster its production capacity. Hyundai Motor sold 10,114 vehicles in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year, beating out Ford and Toyota.

The Korean automaker opened the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore, or HMGICS, in the Jurong Innovation District in November last year. With an annual capacity of producing 30,000 or more EVs, HMGICS has been dubbed as the automaker’s testbed for future mobility with the latest cutting-edge technologies in artificial intelligence, information communication, robotics and smart manufacturing.

According to the official ASEAN online portal, the region's population was about 672 million in 2022 and is projected to surpass 800 million in 2050. Given that the average age of people in the ASEAN member countries is approximately 30, the region’s demand for vehicles is expected to continue rising.