Hyundai Motor launched its new Shouwang brand with a concept car at the 2011 Guangzhou Auto Show on Monday.
The brand is intended solely for the Chinese market and will be manufactured under the carmaker’s joint venture with local partner Beijing BAIC. This close cooperation has, however, sparked concern in some quarters about the risk of the Korean company’s technology being leaked to China.
But the Korean carmaker got off to an emphatic start this week by unveiling the BHCD-1 in southern Guangzhou and showing Chinese customers that they can expect something completely different.
Previously, Hyundai tweaked domestic models like the Avante and Sonata and then introduced them to China, but the BHCD-1 signals the company’s intent to create totally new content for the world’s fastest-growing car market.
The concept car’s specifications including engine, horsepower, fuel efficiency and size have yet to be unveiled. Its launch through the joint venture is seen to align with the wishes of the Chinese government, which has been demanding that foreign automakers entering the local market develop independent brands and transfer green car technologies.
Beijing BAIC has reportedly played only a minor role in developing the BHCD-1, but some insiders have questioned the wisdom of sharing new technological developments with a Chinese automaker that is still playing catch-up in the industry.
“As Chinese businesses’ learning ability has been rapidly growing, a crucial thing that matters in the long term will be to protect our own technology,” said Lee Hang-koo at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
Earlier, Hyundai accepted China’s demand that it build an R&D center with its second plant in Beijing in 2006. It also had to delay breaking ground on its third factory in China for one year because the government requested the sharing of auto engine design technology.
Other global automakers also launched independent brands, such as Baojun by Shanghai GM Wuling, Linian by Guangzhou Honda and Zhichun by Dongfeng Nissan.
