Beijing officials have called on the public to buy the Sonata cars produced at a new joint venture factory in the north of the city, but analysts are sceptical it can achieve an ambitious target of 500,000 sales by 2010.
Xia Zhanyi, Communist Party chief of Xunyi county - where the factory is located, called on all citizens to support the project and help it reach the sales goal, more than 10 times the planned 45,000 target for this year, the Beijing Daily said.
Production of the Sonata began late last year, with 2,000 sold by the end of the year. Taxi companies bought 600, the Beijing city government 500 and the city police 300.
On January 20, output increased from 100 units from one shift to 200 from two shifts. Local content is expected to reach 40 per cent by March.
The joint venture - a 50-50 partnership between South Korea's Hyundai and Beijing Auto Industry, a unit of the city government - has opened four dealerships in Beijing and plans 80 nationwide by the end of this year.
'We are aiming for the market segment occupied by the Honda Accord, the Nissan Bluebird, the Volkswagen Passat and the Buick made by General Motors,' said Li Yong-ho, the joint venture's sales manager.