Hyundai Glovis forms China logistics venture

Hyundai Glovis is forming a joint venture with a Chinese logistics company to expand its car shipping business in China.

The company announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with Shenyang-based United Logistics to establish Jiangsu Gelian Logistics, which will be dedicated to transporting finished cars to customers throughout the country.

The signing ceremony on Friday was attended by around 100 people, including Sung Seung-yong, head of China operations at Hyundai Glovis, and United Logistics CEO Li Ping.

The venture will be headed by an executive from the Beijing unit of Hyundai Glovis and headquartered in Yancheng, China. It will use its own trucks to fulfill car delivery orders previously handled by United Logistics and Beijing Glovis.

Through the agreement, Jiangsu Gelian Logistics, 51 percent owned by the Beijing unit of Hyundai Glovis and the rest by United Logistics, is expected to conduct deliveries for customers of United Logistics, including Geely and Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group.

Hyundai Glovis said the new venture will be handling large delivery volumes from the traditional catchment areas of United Logistics and Hyundai Glovis.

The joint venture is also tasked with finding new business opportunities in procurement and import-export logistics.

United Logistics was established in 2011 and currently has 17 branches throughout the country. The company reported 1.8 billion yuan ($254.8 million) in sales in 2017 and shipped around 1.95 million cars throughout the country last year.

Hyundai Glovis said it believes the latest partnership will help it increase profits and stabilize its reach in the Chinese market. In May, the company signed an initial agreement with Changjiu Group, a logistics service provider, to cooperate on expanding its logistics business in China and abroad.

At the moment, the Korean company operates 14 business entities in China - seven corporations like Beijing Glovis and Tianjin Glovis, and seven branch offices of those corporations.

BY KO JUN-TAE [ko.juntae@joongang.co.kr]