Hürriyet – The South Korean automotive manufacturer has rolled out the first i10 hatchback from its plant in İzmit, Kocaeli in northwestern Türkiye. The new generation i10 vehicle will be manufactured at the Izmit plant for the entire European market, along with the i20 Troy which has been in production since 2010.
Established as a joint venture with Turkish Kibar Group, the Hyundai Assan plant in Türkiye is the first overseas manufacturing facility for the South Korean company. Hyundai invested USD 600 million in the facility to add the production line for the new model, directly and indirectly creating 2,700 new jobs in the process.
With the addition of the new i10, the annual capacity of the plant will reach 210,000 vehicles per year, with 90 percent of the production destined for export markets.
The Turkish plant is vital to Hyundai’s plans to meet the increasing demand for light segment vehicles in Europe.
Home to global automakers Ford, Fiat, Toyota, Honda, Renault as well as Hyundai, Türkiye’s automotive industry is forecasted to manufacture 1.1 million vehicles in 2013. The highly-developed industry exported USD 19 billion worth of vehicles and parts last year.