Hyundai-Assan Turkey CEO Kwang-Heum Um said Hyundai was very close to announcing its final decision on the matter. Kwang-Heum said they expect to have good news for the Turkish plant in a couple of weeks. The latest Hyundai plant in Europe was opened in the Czech Republic and currently produces Hyundai i30 hatchback and wagon models for the European market. However, the Czech plant is not Hyundai's only choice, since the giant automaker also has a plant in Turkey, where they produce Hyundai Accents. Kwang-Heum said they would invest an additional $75 million in Turkey should the company decide to manufacture the i20 model in this country.
Hyundai unveiled its i20 hatchback at the 2008 Paris Auto Show. The model has been on sale in Europe and India since December 2008. Hyundai had manufactured 73,000 i20 hatchbacks and exported more than 60,000 cars to Europe by June. Noting that Hyundai is the leading automaker in the Turkish market according to figures for the first seven months of 2009, Kwang-Heum said the company has a target of selling over 50,000 cars in Turkey. “The Hyundai Turkey plant has manufactured 500,000 cars since 1996,” he added.
