Hyundai to open Russian car plant

Hyundai is the world's sixth biggest carmaker

South Korean carmaker Hyundai has said it has signed a $400m (£199m) deal to build a car plant in north-west Russia.

The deal with the governor of St Petersburg will see Hyundai build a plant with an annual capacity of 100,000 cars, the company said.

It did not say which cars would be made in what would its sixth overseas plant.

"We hope the plant will help Hyundai become a brand to be loved by Russians," Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-Koo said in a statement.

The company already has factories in the US, China, India and Turkey and another is being built in the Czech Republic.

Work on building the new plant will start in the first half of 2008. Hyundai already assembles 70,000 to 80,000 cars annually in southern Russia, at the Taganrog car plant, under a licence agreement.

Hyundai said that it sold 130,166 cars in Russia from January to November this year, taking a 9.1% share of the market.

Hyundai is the world's sixth largest carmaker when sales of its affiliate Kia Motors are included.