January 4, 2008 -- South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co. (KSE:005380) said Friday it will start building an auto assembly factory in Brazil this year, in addition to a previously announced plan for a plant in Russia.

The new investment plan was disclosed by company vice chairman Kim Dong-jin in a speech to the company's new employees in Seoul.

" Hyundai Motor is now searching for a site in Brazil for the plant construction," Kim said.

The plant in Brazil, which would be Hyundai's first plant in South America, will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 units and aims to begin mass production in 2010, Kim said, without specifying financial terms.

Last month, Hyundai said it signed a preliminary agreement with a Russian province to build a US$400 million plant in the resource-rich country.

Hyundai will start building the Russian plant, with a yearly capacity of 100,000 vehicles, in the first-half of this year, the company said earlier.

Hyundai is aggressively expanding its overseas manufacturing plants to offset damages from labor strikes at home and reduce risks from the strong local currency.

Hyundai has plants in the United States, China, India and Turkey and is building another plant in the Czech Republic.

At the meeting with new employees, Hyundai's Kim said the automaker posted an operating profit of between 2.4 trillion won and 2.5 trillion won last year, or some 5.5 per cent operating profit margin.

"This year, Hyundai Motor aims to post an 8 per cent operating profit margin to match that of Japan's Toyota," Kim said.

Along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. (KSE:000270), Hyundai plans to become one of the world's top five automakers by 2010. It now ranks sixth in the world.

In 2007, Hyundai's sales rose 4.1 per cent to 2.6 million vehicles and Kia's sales rose 8.3 per cent to 1.36 million units.

Source: Asia Pulse