Korea's driving ambition

The Koreans are following in the footsteps of the Japanese, providing regular cars, well priced and of good quality, which, increasingly, are made where they are sold. They are aware of the growth and speed of the Chinese following along behind; this is the moment for Hyundai and its companion brand Kia to consolidate their positions. Their positions are strong. Both marques have, or will have, factories for local production in Europe and America. The plant in Slovakia that makes the Europe-only Kia Cee'd is in full operation and the car has had a good start in the market, promoted by its seven-year mechanical warranty. At the Geneva Motor Show this week, Hyundai will unveil its equivalent model, previously codenamed FD but now with a new alphanumeric name i30. This car, which goes on sale in July, will be supplied from Korea initially but by early 2009 production for Europe is scheduled to transfer to a new plant in the Czech Republic. Though the two European factories are in different countries they are only 40 miles apart. This makes for easy transport of components shared by Hyundai and Kia. Engines are made in a factory adjacent to the Kia plant at Zilina, while the Hyundai facility in Nosovice will make 600,000 transmissions a year as well as 200,000 cars. Similar pairing arrangements have been made in the USA between the Hyundai plant in Alabama and Kia's new factory in Georgia. The only snag with this carefully thoughtout plan is that work has yet to start on Hyundai's Czech factory. The inauguration ceremony has been postponed several times. Why is not entirely clear. There is talk of difficulties with local environmentalists but a more likely reason is the recent conviction of the Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-Koo on charges of embezzlement and fraud. Chairman Chung is known to like to be involved with the detail of every project and he might not be able to leave Korea to attend the ground-breaking at Nosovice during his appeal against a three-year jail sentence.