NOVEMBERASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9Hyundai Motor Co broke ground on a 2 trillion won ($1.52 billion) dedicated electric vehicle (EV) plant in South Korea on Nov 13, accelerating the automaker's shift to electrification. It is the world's third-largest automaker by sales, plans to begin mass production of EVs from the plant in the first quarter of 2026 after completing construction in 2025.The factory in Ulsan, South Korea, will have an annual capacity of 200,000 units, and the company has announced that its first model will be an electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) from its luxury brand Genesis. Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Genesis brands, announced in April that it intends to launch 31 electric vehicles by 2030.Hyundai Motor Group's Executive Chair Euisun Chung, Hyundai Motor's chief executive officer and other officials, including the Ulsan Metropolitan City Mayor, attended the event to witness the ground breaking of the EV factory, the automaker's first new plant in South Korea in 29 years. Hyundai's Ulsan complex is its biggest manufacturing site.The groundbreaking comes after Hyundai Motor announced that it would stick to its EV rollout plans, in contrast to some competitors who have reduced EV production due to cooling demand. General Motors Co said it would delay production of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra electric pickup trucks at a Michigan plant by a year due to flattening demand for EVs. Ford Motor Company is temporarily eliminating one of three shifts at its plant that manufactures the electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck.Tesla Inc is also delaying plans for a factory in Mexico, while GM and Honda announced last month that they were cancelling a $5 billion joint venture to develop lower-cost EVs. Sime Darby, a Malaysian conglomerate, announced on Nov 10 that Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care, its 50-50 joint venture with Ramsay Health Care in Australia, will be sold for 5.7 billion ringgit ($1.21 billion). Sime Darby Holding and Ramsay's subsidiary AH Holdings Health Care announced a sale and purchase agreement with Malaysian-based private hospital chain Columbia Asia Healthcare on November 10.'The offer from Columbia Asia was one we could not refuse,' said Sime Darby's Group Chief Executive Officer Jeffri Salim Davidson in a statement."While the hospital business is a great asset, we have always maintained our focus on our core trading businesses of motors and industrial," he added.The announcement confirmed a Reuters report published on Tuesday, which stated that Columbia Asia, a Southeast Asian healthcare firm backed by alternative asset firm TPG, was the frontrunner to acquire Ramsay Sime Darby. The sale will allow Sime Darby to unlock the value of its previously deemed non-core healthcare assets, with a 2 billion ringgit gain on stake disposal, the company said in a statement.Ramsay, Australia's largest private hospital operator, did not respond immediately to Reuters' request for comment after hours. The transaction represents the largest Southeast Asian healthcare acquisition since 2019, when Malaysian conglomerate Hong Leong Group and TPG paid approximately $1.2 billion for Columbia Asia's assets. HYUNDAI MOTORS COMMENCES EV PLANT CONSTRUCTION IN SOUTH KOREASIME DARBY FORMS 50-50 JV WITH RAMSAY HEALTHCARENEWSROOM
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