In Kulim (Malaysia) Inokom Corporation is looking for new ways to assemble more Hyundai models at its plant for the export market. The company assembled the first 200 units of the Hyundai Elantra for export to Thailand in June and it is set to export another 200 units early this month. It is ploughing in another RM40 million for capacity expansion at the Kedah facility. The move will see 1,000 units of the Malaysian-assembled Elantra Nu1.8L shipped to Thailand in the first year, generating an additional RM50 million in revenue annually for Inokom. 
For its 2014 fiscal year, Inokom recorded a turnover of RM598 million. “Our collaboration with Hyundai Motor (Thailand) Co Ltd will open up more export opportunities, especially for locally-assembled Hyundai models,” said Inokom managing director Rizal Jailan after the official rollout yesterday of the Hyundai Elantra for export to Thailand. He said the company is looking to increase the local content in the assembly of the Hyundai cars, which currently exceeds 40 per cent.
Hyundai expects the popularity of Elantra to soar in Thailand following the competitive pricing from the Asean Free Trade Agreement scheme. “Although this is our first collaboration with Inokom, we look forward to future collaborations and possibly, for other Hyundai models as well,” said Hyundai Motor Thailand president Hideki Yanagisawa. Meanwhile, Rizal said the RM40 million investment forms part of the total RM68 million capital expenditure by the company for its 2015 fiscal year ending June next year. “The budget includes increasing our paint shop capability as we are looking at increasing the number of vehicles rolled out from our plant in Kulim from 28,000 to 34,000 units by next year,” he said.
Rizal said Inokom also plans to bring in more Hyundai models and expand its export markets to more countries in the region. “With the export initiative, Inokom hopes to further cement its support for the new National Automotive Policy by developing new vendors and increasing the participation of existing local vendors.” Inokom’s vehicle assembly plant, measuring 40.4ha of built-up area, has an output capacity of 27,000 completely knocked down vehicles a year. Besides the Elantra, Inokom also assembles the seven-seater Santa Fe sport utility vehicles and the i10 compact passenger car for the domestic market, distributed by Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors.
