Hyundai to Exit Russian Market and Sell Local Plant

Hyundai Motor plans to exit the Russian market and sell its plant in the country to a Kazakh company, according to a report in South Korean media.
The report says that Hyundai is in the final stages of negotiations to sell the Russian plant, adding that the company has been waiting for final approval from the Russian government. Hyundai said that it was indeed in discussions regarding the sale of the plant, but no final decision has been made yet.
Hyundai suspended its operations in Russia last year. In March this year, the company said it was considering "various options" regarding its Russian operations. In a statement sent to foreign media on April 27, Hyundai said it was reviewing various options for the future of its Russian operations, adding that they had not made a decision so far.
Since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict escalated last year, many factories in Russia have suspended production and laid off a large number of workers as a result of the shortage of high-tech equipment there, which began to be affected by sanctions from Western countries and the withdrawal of Western manufacturers.
Hyundai, along with its affiliate Kia, is one of the world's top 10 carmakers in terms of sales, building around 200,000 units of vehicles a year in Russia, accounting for around 4% of the group's global production capacity.
Renault, Hyundai and Kia used to be the top three-selling brands in Russia before the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Now, as global companies have pulled out of Russia, Chinese car brands are gaining a dominant position in the Russian market.