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Kia, Hyundai delay U.S., Czech Republic plants "indefinitely"
As the fallout from the Korean government's investigation into Hyundai Motor Co. begins to impact company operations, both Hyundai and subsidiary Kia Motors have postponed construction of new manufacturing facilities in Europe and the U.S.Kia Motors said Thursday that it was delaying its $1.2 billion Georgia facility indefinitely, and a spokesperson said the company could no longer guarantee that production at its first U.S. plant would begin as scheduled in 2009.
In a separate announcement, Hyundai Motor, which only today signed an agreement with the government of the Czech Republic to build a $1.28 billion factory, said it was delaying the start of construction for the Czech facility.
By most accounts, it would appear that the indictment of Hyundai's chairman, and the pending indictment of his son, the president of Kia, is creating the leadership vacuum feared by analysts. It will be interesting to see how long it takes both marques to get back on track.
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
iQuack 6:15PM (5/19/2006)
Could it be that the now jailed Hyundai CEO issued bounced Czechs?
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LupeDupe 6:50PM (5/19/2006)
New 7 litre Caddy spied,
http://cars.msn.co.uk/carnews/cadillacctssupervspiedmay06/
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Corey W. 7:28PM (5/19/2006)
Wow tough blow for Kia/Hyundai..
Ok, what up with post like #2, it's like AutoBlog has commercials now... Blog Spam?? ;-)
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Ian 7:41PM (5/19/2006)
More likely a Hyundai ploy to pressure the SK government to back off the indictments of their leader as he is so "crucial" to the company....
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donald douglas 8:25PM (5/19/2006)
when the cats away, the mice wont get to play !
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Kurt B 9:45PM (5/19/2006)
Ask the people of Quebec about how their Elantra plant went...
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Pam 7:33AM (5/20/2006)
wow, huge blow to Kia, I just bought new Sportage in 05 and love it. Comfortable little SUV, hope this doesn't take long. New plant in US would be great.
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Razib Ahmed 9:36AM (5/20/2006)
This is the problem with many Asian companies. When the top boss is in trouble then tings may fall apart very quickly because the top management never think of replacing the top boss with a substitute.
Hyundai Motor is seriously contemplating the idea of introducing a small car with 1.2-litre diesel engine (http://www.southasiabiz.com/2006/05/can_diesel_powered_cars_do_the.html). I hope it goes well as I have not heard anything about its postment yet.
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