Incentive scheme benefits Hyundai

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

Hyundai Assan’s GM Karaarslan says Hyundai will invest $200 mln by August. Hürriyet photo

Hyundai has become one of the first firms to take advantage of a new Turkish incentive scheme and plans to invest 1.1 billion Turkish Liras to increase the capacity of its İzmit factory from 100,000 to 200,000 vehicles within 18 months.

“By August we will complete 20 percent [200 million liras] of the investment and import vehicles without having to pay the customs tax,” said Hyundai Assan’s general manager, Ümit Karaarslan. By not having to pay the 10 percent customs tax, Hyundai Assan will have an annual advantage of 40 million lira.

“The investment we will make according to the new incentive scheme requires that we make 20 percent of the total investment in order to qualify. Therefore, by August we plan to complete 20 percent of the 1.1 billion-lira investment and take advantage of the incentive scheme,” said Karaarslan.

Karaarslan said they did not pay a customs tax on many of the vehicles imported from Europe but added that the real benefit of the new incentive scheme would be for the Accent Blue model, which Hyundai will import from Korea given that Hyundai Assan will not have to pay any additional customs tax.

With the 1.1 billion-lira investment, the South Korean automotive giant plans to increase its manufacturing of small model cars; the İzmit facility is duly slated to become a “small automobile center by the end of 2013,” Karaarslan said.

“This model will take the place of i10 A class model. We haven’t decided on the name yet. Either it will remain i10 or the model will receive a new name,” said Karaarslan.

The investment will also create employment for an additional 2,389 people, said Karaarslan.