News regarding Hyundai’s return to Algeria. The South Korean car manufacturer is preparing to set up a vehicle factory there in 2025. This news was revealed during the visit to the group on Friday by the President of the National People’s Assembly (APN), Brahim Boughali, as part of his visit to the Republic of South Korea.
At the “Hyundai” group level, Mr. Boughali followed the different stages of manufacturing and visited several important departments, notably that of future vehicles equipped with hydrogen and electronic technologies, according to a press release from the APN.
During a meeting with Hyundai Group officials, in the presence of the delegation accompanying him as well as the Algerian ambassador to Korea, Mr. Boughali welcomed “the evolution of the Group’s activity, citing in particular the Group’s preparations to establish a factory in Algeria in 2025,” the same source said.
According to officials’ estimates, Hyundai’s global vehicle assembly network “is expected to reach 15 plants, with a planned production capacity of 1.5 million vehicles in Korea, and 3 million vehicles at overseas production plants.”
Regarding a question posed by Mr. Bougali on the quality of products marketed in Algeria compared to other countries in the Middle East and Europe, the officials of the South Korean company responded that “the quality of cars sent to different regions of the world is subject to the standards of the production sites, as well as price and quality considerations.” They added that “the factory that will be opened in Algeria will take into account the varied demands as soon as it opens.”
In this context, the press release added, the president of the APN said he was “convinced that the Hyundai factory in Algeria could increase production rates to meet the growing demand for this brand”, which would allow exports to Africa in the future.
The president of the APN recalled the advantages contained in the investment law, highlighting “the improvement of the business climate in Algeria as well as the role of startups in the development of the subcontracting network, thus contributing to increasing the rate of integration in local manufacturing.”
Hyundai presents its vehicle manufacturing project in Algeria
Last July, the Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production, Ali Aoun, received a delegation including senior officials from the Hyundai company and the Omani Commercial Enterprise (OTE Group), who presented the Hyundai brand automobile manufacturing project in Algeria, a statement from the ministry said.
During this meeting, according to the same source, Minister Ali Aoun listened to a detailed presentation given by the head of the Hyundai company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Tarek Mosaab, affirming that the project “will fall within the framework of the (Algerian) government’s policy, aimed at creating a real automobile industry, with the achievement of a considerable integration rate.”
“The company’s officials expressed their willingness to set up a factory in accordance with the company’s international standards. The project design will take into account from the beginning the creation of a body construction line and an automobile painting line. Three (3) models of Hyundai brand passenger cars will also be produced, in addition to two types of utility vehicles, and even electric vehicles,” the statement said.
Regarding the choice of land, the minister stressed “the need to accelerate the registration on the digital platform dedicated to this purpose as soon as possible in order to realize this project,” according to the press release.
Hyundai opened a vehicle assembly plant in Tiaret (northwestern Algeria) in 2017 with a capacity of 100,000 units per year. This plant was closed in 2020, after the arrest and conviction of businessman Mahieddine Tahkout, the Algerian partner of the South Korean manufacturer, as part of the anti-corruption campaign launched by the authorities after the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019, under pressure from the street.
