Hyundai Motor to sell suspended No. 1 Beijing plant site

Hyundai Motor Co. is seeking to sell the site of its suspended No. 1 Beijing plant to the Shunyi administrative district.

The plant site has been suspended since April 2019 after Hyundai suffered years of sluggish sales in China due to political tensions between South Korea and China over the deployment of an advanced US missile defense system, THAAD, in South Korea in 2017.

South Korea's biggest carmaker has four other plants in China -- two in Beijing, one in Changzhou, and another in Chongqing -- that are in operation.

Hyundai has seven domestic plants and 10 overseas plants, except for the Beijing No. 1 plant, with a combined capacity reaches 5.5 million vehicles.

To revive sales in China, Hyundai has stepped up its efforts to reorganize its sales networks and product lineup.

This year, Hyundai launched its independent Genesis brand in China and plans to launch electrified models such as the Hyundai IONIQ 5.