Hyundai Motor opens its first European car plant

PRAGUE: South Korean auto maker Hyundai Motor Co. on Monday officially opened a new 1 billion euro ($1.3 billion) car plant in the Czech Republic, its first production facility in Europe.

The plant near the eastern town of Nosovice is designed to produce up to 300,000 cars a year by 2011 for European markets, the company said in a statement. It will create some 3,400 jobs, it said.

The plant was officially unveiled Monday, although trial production began a week ago, and is the third largest car manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic.

Next year, Hyundai Motor plans to set up another European plant in Russia's St. Petersburg.