Hyundai plant in Venezuela to start assembly of cars from next year

A Venezuelan automobile assembly plant, MMC, intends to restart output of Hyundai Motor vehicles by 2018 following a five-year stop because of a lack of dollars from the government to import parts, a company executive stated.

Automobile assembly has almost ground to a halt in the crisis-stricken OPEC country for absence of parts of assembly. The nation’s currency controls need businesses to get dollars through the government, however low oil costs have left it without enough hard currency to pay out.

MMC, which assembles and offers Hyundai and Mitsubishi vehicles in Venezuela, prepares to sell imported automobiles in the coming months as it brings the factory back.

“The vehicle market is cyclical; it appears like we’ve struck the bottom and we want to be ready for much better times,” MMC Vice President Jose Gomez stated.

“We’re not going to wait for the great times to get here to begin getting ready.”

Venezuela’s recession, defined by triple-digit inflation and persistent product shortages, has annihilated the costs power of a population that for several years had the methods to buy brand-new cars.

Car assembly in 2016 sank to a historical low of 2,849 cars, almost 75 percent less than the year prior, according to Venezuela’s automotive market group.

Assembly plants have also had problem with labor disputes, that have forced a number of plants to stop operations during the last 6 months.

Hyundai’s director for Central and South America, Chenny Park, stated the company was intending to become a favorite in the Venezuelan market.

“We are starting a new age for the Hyundai brand in Venezuela,” stated Park via an interpreter.