Hyundai to Add Third Shift at St. Petersburg Plant in August

South-Korean car maker Hyundai will launch a third production shift at its plant in St. Petersburg, Russia on August 15 in response to strong demand for the Hyundai Solaris and the introduction of its third model. Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus (HMMR) has recently announced the production of the Kia Rio compact car for the domestic market. It plans to produce 20,000 units of this model before the end of the year, as well about 100,000 cars in 2012.

The company introduced a second shift in April, after the plant started to produce up to 10 thousand cars a month. HMMR plans to increase capacity to 13 thousand cars a month from September with the 24-hours working regime. From July 25 to August 7, the production line will be halted for maintenance work, but as from September production capacity will be increased, and by 2012 the plant will produce 200 thousand cars.