Hyundai to make Kona Electric in Czech Republic
Hyundai is apparently hatching plans to produce the fully-electric Kona at its Czech plant from the first half of 2020. So far, the Kona Electric has only been manufactured in South Korea from where it is exported all over the world.
The plans were reported in Business Korea, revealing that Hyundai not only wants to produce hybrid versions of the Tucson in the Czech Republic but also 46,000 units of the Kona Electric in the coming year – almost as many as will be produced this year in Ulsan, South Korea (48,000).
The plant in Nosovice is to emerging as Hyundai Motor’s largest overseas production base for electric cars, and the company has already scheduled the production of the Tucson Hybrid and Tucson PHEV at the Czech site. Hyundai wants to invest 105.7 billion won, the equivalent of around 80 million euros, in its Czech value. The majority of the sum is to be invested this year, as series production is to start in the first half of 2020.
With production in Europe, Hyundai could greatly reduce the long waiting times for their compact electric SUV – provided the Korean company can get enough batteries. The article in Business Korea did not report on a battery strategy for the move. The units produced in Korea use battery cells from LG Chem. The Korean company also operates a production facility for the automotive industry in Wroclaw, Poland.
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