Media: Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg can be bought by Kazakhstan Astana Motors

The government of St. Petersburg is discussing with the Astana Motors Company from Kazakhstan a possible sale of Hyundai plant. This is reported by Fontanka.ru publication, citing a source close to the negotiations. According to him, it is not known yet whether the models of Korean brands (Hyundai Creta crossover, Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio sedans, as well as the Rio X cross hatchback) will be released under the same names under which they were produced at the enterprise until March 2022. The press service of Hyundai officially does not comment on this information. Kirill Soloveychik, chairman of the city committee for industrial policy, innovation and trade, announced the interest of Astana Motors in buying a Hyundai plant.

As for the production site of Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus in Shushary (former General Motors plant), according to him, St. Petersburg authorities plan to open a large-scale educational center for training industrial personnel there. Recall that Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg has been idle since March 2022 due to a shortage of components. The enterprise has been operating since 2010; it organizes the production of cars in a full cycle with stamping, welding and body painting. The production capacity is 220 thousand cars per year. The total investment in the project of Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus plant exceeded $1 billion. In addition to the Russian market, Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg supplied all of its models to Kazakhstan, Belarus and other countries of the near abroad.