South Korean carmaker Hyundai’s management plans to spend hundreds of millions to billions of crowns to modify its Nosovice plant so that it can produce more electric cars, or just electric cars, E15.cz said today, referring to the plant’s production subdivision head Martin Klicnik.
Now, the factory in Nosovice – Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech (HMMC) – can produce no more than 30 percent of electric vehicles (EV), he told the server.
Nosovice plant spokesman Petr Michnik told said in November that the share of cars with pure electric drive should make up 70 percent of the plant’s production volumes in 2030.
Hyundai currently produces the Tucson, i30 and Kona Electric models in Nosovice. Kona Electric is the automaker’s first electric car produced outside South Korea.
Klicnik told E15 that he and his team are now working on several options for rebuilding the line. “We will choose one option next year. The actual conversion should take place either in 2025 or later,” he said.
After the modification, the line should also be able to produce more electric vehicle models, Klicnik said.
The production team has about 180 engineers, and 26 more will be added, he said.
From 2035 onwards, new cars with internal combustion engines will no longer be allowed to be sold in the EU market. Most of the cars from Nosovice are destined for the largest European markets in Germany, France and Great Britain.
Hyundai produced 322,500 cars in Nosovice last year and this year it may be as many as 340,000. According to E15, the share of pure electric cars at the plant is gradually increasing. Last year it was one in ten cars, this year the share will rise to 13 percent, next year to 17 percent.
The Nosovice factory is the only Hyundai production plant in the European Union. In addition to passenger cars, it also produces two types of six-speed manual transmissions. The plant has more than 3,200 employees, with about 8,700 more working for its direct suppliers.
Last year, the company’s profit rose by CZK 2.05bn to CZK 10.96bn and sales by CZK 27.31bn to CZK 167.73bn.
Source: E15.cz and CTK
Photo: Nosovice – Hyundai
