RusAutoNews.- As announced by the company press office, 234,000 automobiles have rolled off the conveyor of the Hyundai plant in St Petersburg in 2021. The figure indicates a 6.5% year-on-year growth. The company plans to increase the production volume in 2022, with the aim to exceed the 240,000 units mark.
Joo Soochone, the general manager of the factory has commented: “HMMR plant has faced a deficit of components this year, like all car manufacturing enterprises in the region, semiconductors in particular. Despite all complications, we practically managed to avoid the interruptions in the production process, and achieved significant annual results. The usage of alternative transport routes for imported components, such as railways and the port of Novorossiysk, was one of the factors leading to success. The new routes made it possible to reduce the transport times of the components by one and a half and in some cases by two times“.
The Hyundai plant has manufactured 71,000 Solaris and the same amount, 71,000 Creta vehicles. Both models have a concrete standing in the Top-5 most popular automobiles in Russia rankings. The successful launch of the production of the second generation of the Creta crossover was the main event of the year for the company. The employees of the company had to cope with the task with little or no involvement of Korean specialists, who were absent due to the coronavirus restrictions. The launch of the new model has significantly expanded the pool of the local suppliers of the Hyundai plant. The second generation Creta has become the most localised Hyundai model in Russia.
In addition, engines manufactured at the Russian plant of Hyundai WIA began to appear on the conveyor of HMMR during the fourth quarter of 2021. The opening ceremony of the Hyundai WIA Rus plant took place in St Petersburg in September 2021. Once the full capacity is reached, the Hyundai WIA plant will become the largest foreign engine manufacturing enterprise in Russia.
The Russian market is a priority for the St Petersburg Hyundai plant. Moreover, the company plans to increase the export volumes on a yearly basis. In the meantime, more than 24,000 automobiles and kits have been exported to the CIS countries in 2021, which is equivalent to a 25% increase in comparison with the same period of last year. Most significantly, over 16,000 car kits have been shipped to Kazakhstan, for CKD-assembly at the Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan factory.
