Hyundai Motor to export 500 trucks to Indonesia

Industry

Published: 20 Sep. 2017, 20:06

Hyundai Motor to export 500 trucks to Indonesia

Hyundai Motor’s senior vice president of commercial vehicle exports, Lee In-cheol, left, with Iki Wibowo, president of Hyundai Oto Komersial Indonesia, at the automaker’s headquarters in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul, on Wednesday after signing a deal to export 500 Xcient trucks to Indonesia. [HYUNDAI MOTOR]

Hyundai Motor plans to export 500 heavy-duty trucks to Indonesia in the automaker’s biggest overseas supply contract for heavy-duty trucks.

The company reached a deal with its venture in Indonesia, Hyundai Oto Komersial Indonesia, on Wednesday to ship 500 Xcients, the automaker’s main heavy-duty truck, to the Southeast Asian country. Hyundai believes there will be high demand for the trucks as the capital, Jakarta, is embarking on major land reclamation projects.

Hyundai Motor said it will begin shipping the trucks in December and complete delivery by the first half of next year. “We will have to conduct thorough quality tests,” a Hyundai spokesperson said, “taking local road conditions into consideration, before shipping the trucks.”

The company did not reveal the precise value of the deal, but industry sources estimate the contract is worth about 50 billion won ($44.35 million), given the price of one Xcient stands at around 100 million won.

Last year, China Automotive News selected the Xcient as the truck of the year in China, and at the Indonesia International Motor Show in Jakarta last month, the model placed second in the category of “Favorite Commercial Car” after a truck by Japanese automaker Hino Motor. Indonesia’s commercial vehicle market is currently dominated by Japanese players.

The Hyundai spokesperson said the automaker plans to launch other trucks in Indonesia, including its midsize truck, the New Mighty, in hopes of expanding its share in the local commercial vehicle market.

The deal signed on Wednesday is the biggest contract that Hyundai, Korea’s largest automaker, has landed for heavy-duty trucks. Before that, the automaker sold 100 Xcients to Turkmenistan’s government in April.

In terms of other commercial vehicles, Hyundai secured a deal last year to export 500 of its Aero City buses to Turkmenistan. This year, it shipped commercial trucks and buses to countries including Myanmar and Saudi Arabia.

BY CHOI HYUNG-JO [choi.hyungjo@joongang.co.kr]