South Korean carmakers focus on China

South Korea’s biggest carmakers are targeting record sales in China to help them weather the meltdown of auto markets in the United States and Europe. Hyundai’s 50-50 joint venture in China aims to raise factory sales by 22% to 360,000 vehicles, while Kia’s China plant expects to sell 185,000 cars, up 30% from 2008. Auto sales in China rose 7.3% to 6.76 million units in 2008, growing at the slowest pace in at least nine years as a cooling economy dampened demand for new vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. (February 2, 2009)