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Hyundai rubbishes Chrysler
acquisition news
BY A CORRESPONDENT
February 19, 2006
Hyundai Motor will not be part of
the upcoming bidding to take over
DaimlerChrysler Group company
Chrysler. Denying a report which had
named Hyundai to be one of the
bidders, the company rubbished it as
baseless
The report is said to have originated
following a flurry of rumours that the
U.S. investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase
will likely put the financially
troubled Chrysler on auction. While
one newspaper said that General Motors
(GM) and Hyundai Motor have been in
merger talks with Chrysler, several
others, reported that GM is one of the
potential investors in Chrysler.
Significantly, Hyundai Mobis, an
affiliate of Hyundai Motor, began
providing DaimlerChrysler Group with
auto parts last year. Hyundai Motor in
the meantime is rumoured to under
pressure to look for a strategic
partner. Korean auto experts believe
that Hyundai should focus more on a
global trend in which the US, European
and Japanese competitors work together
amid close sales battles in worldwide
markets.
With such deliberations gaining
ground, market observers point out
Mitsubishi Motor as a prospective
business partner of Hyundai Motor.
Saying that the Japanese automaker had
handed over its technology to Hyundai
since the early 1980s, they said
Mitsubishi is poised to open a sales
unit in Korea soon while there are
already three Japanese automakers _
Toyota, Honda and Nissan _ operating
here.
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