Turing the Tide?
Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun flew to the United States and Mexico on November 8 after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on November 7. The vice chairman returned on November 11 after visiting Pittsburgh, Detroit, LA and Mexico.
According to industry sources, his visit to the U.S. and Mexico was to prepare a response to Washington’s trade protectionism. The automobile industry is the hottest issue in the negotiations for KORUS FTA revision. On November 7, the vice chairman had talks with South Korean Trade Minister Kim Hyun-chong and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who are leading the negotiations.
The Hyundai Motor Group sold a total of 1,067,077 cars in the U.S. market for the first 10 months of this year, down 10.4% from a year ago. Under the circumstances, some are predicting that the Hyundai Motor Group will take some action soon to turn the tide and the action is likely to be the construction of its third plant in the United States. Early this year, the group announced that it would invest US$3.1 billion in the U.S. for five years. At present, the group is running two manufacturing plants in the United States and the capacity utilization of each of those located in Alabama and Georgia exceeded 100% last year.
In Mexico, the vice chairman looked around Kia Motors’ manufacturing facilities that were put into operation in September last year. The U.S. President has claimed that any automaker should manufacture cars in the U.S. if it wishes to sell cars in the U.S. He is currently demanding NAFTA renegotiations, too.
In Pittsburgh, the vice chairman checked the development of autonomous driving technology. The Hyundai Motor Group is currently working with Uber and Uber is currently testing its self-driving cars in Almono, its fake city located in Pittsburgh.