Hyundai Motor plans Pakistan venture with billionaire Mansha

Suzuki also plans to invest $460 million on a second plant

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s biggest automaker, plans to partner with billionaire Mohammad Mian Mansha’s Nishat Mills to start assembling cars in Pakistan as vehicle sales accelerate in the $271-billion economy.

Nishat Mills’ venture, which includes Hyundai and Sojitz, will assemble passenger and one-ton commercial vehicles in Pakistan, the company said in a stock exchange filing in Karachi on Friday. Nishat wants to finalise the agreement after a feasibility study within four months, Norez Abdullah, an adviser to Nishat’s automobile and power division, said by phone from Lahore.

The South Korean company joins Renault and Kia Motors in planning to assemble vehicles in