Hyundai Motor’s first overseas plant in Turkey makes decent turnaround

Back in the late 1990s, South Korea’s top automaker Hyundai Motor Co. built its first overseas plant in Turkey, betting on the European and Middle Eastern markets’ growth potential.

Hyundai Assan Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. in Istanbul, simply known as HAOS, has since been the “ugly duckling,” posting losses for several years as the Turkish economy slumped.

Undaunted by the economic woes, the Korean automaker has steadily increased the plant’s annual production capacity through 2013. HAOS also relocated the i10 hatchback vehicle production line at Hyundai’s Indian plant to Turkey.

As Turkey’s economy started to rebound soon after, the plant’s output volumes rose to as many as 242,100 units in 2023 from 137,100 in 2020.


Years of efforts have borne fruit and the ugly duckling has finally turned into a beautiful swan laying golden eggs.

Last year, HAOS posted 198.5 billion won ($149 million) in net profit on sales of 3.02 trillion won.

RUNNING AT FULL CAPACITY

The Turkish auto market has huge growth potential with a population of 80 million and the country’s economy growing at 4.5% in 2023.

With increasing demand for new vehicles, Hyundai’s plant in Istanbul posted an operating rate of 119.9% in the first half – the highest among 13 factories operated by Hyundai and its affiliate Kia Corp. across the globe.

By comparison, Hyundai’s plant in Korea had an operating rate of 109.1% in the first half, followed by 101% in the US and 98.6% in India.

Kia’s Korean factory operated at 114.9% of its capacity and its US plant at 100.9% in the first half.

At HAOS, Hyundai produces the compact hatchback i10 and i20, the high-performance compact hatchback i20N and the compact sports utility vehicle Bayon, sold in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The most popular model is the Bayon SUV, launched in 2021.

The model is popular not just in Turkey but also in Israel and Kazakhstan, company officials said.

According to market research firm MarkLines, the Bayon SUV's global sales more than doubled to 59,136 units last year from 22,430 in 2021.

Industry officials said the high-performance i20N’s successive victories at the World Rally Championship (WRC) contributed to Hyundai cars’ popularity in Turkey and elsewhere.

STRATEGICALLY LOCATED

HAOS is strategically located, connecting Europe, the Middle East and Africa, industry officials said.

Using the Turkish plant as a local base, Hyundai also plans to advance into the Central Asian market.

Sources said Hyundai Motor plans to produce electric vehicles at HAOS as early as next year.

Earlier this year, POSCO International Corp. said it would supply drive motor cores for 550,000 smaller EVs from next year through 2034.

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.