Hyundai officially began production at its highly anticipated, EUR1.1 billion assembly line in Nosovice, Czech Republic. The new factory is Hyundai's first European venture. The Hyundai plant will be the third largest car factory in the Czech Republic, a country heavily dependent on car production, after Volkswagen's unit Skoda Auto and TPCA, a joint venture of Toyota Motor Corp. and PSA Peugeot Citroen. The company expects to produce 18,000 Hyundai i30 cars in the factory this year, 200,000 next year and 300,000 in 2011. The plant, which will supply cars to European markets, employs 1,750 people. It expects to have 2,750 staff next year and 3,400 in 2011.
The i30 is the first vehicle to be built in the new plant and will take over the supply of i30s to the European market. The i30 was previously exported from the factory in Seoul.
