Phase of the moon takes Hyundai Casper for just a spin

President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook test-drive a Hyundai Motor upon its delivery at Cheong Wa Dae on Wendesday. (Cheong Wa Dae)

President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook on Wednesday test-drove their new car, the Hyundai Casper, renewing awareness for the first private-public experiment to create jobs at a car manufacturing plant. 

“Despite its compact size, it is a sturdy car. I like the spacious interior, too,” the president said as the couple was briefed on the car structure and function from a Hyundai Motor official upon the car’s delivery at Cheong Wa Dae.

The Casper is a 1-liter micro SUV from Hyundai Motor. It is the first mini car from the nation’s largest carmaker in 19 years. What makes the vehicle more special is it is the first car produced at a 575.4 billion won ($482.7 million) joint venture plant between Hyundai and the Gwangju city government.

The so-called “Gwangju-style Job Project” is one of eight projects across the nation that aim to revitalize the regional economy and create jobs for youngsters there — Moon’s key campaign pledge.

The Casper plant, called Gwangju Global Motors, is responsible for manufacturing vehicles outsourced by Hyundai, while the city government offers a 628,000-square-meter plot of land for the site and other welfare benefits for the employees like housing expenses.

A total of 571 people work at the plant currently, with almost 90 percent of them in their 20s and 30s. The average age at other Hyundai plants is about 50.

Because most of them are less experienced workers, a group of “supporters” who are veteran technicians are training them under an apprentice system.

The average annual pay is relatively low at 35 million won for 44 hours of work per week, almost half the industry average here. And the pay increase will be limited based on the inflation rate until the production capacity reaches an accumulative 350,000 units. The plant aims to raise the production capacity to 12,000 vehicles by the end of this year and to 70,000 vehicles next year.

But the pay gap will be filled with incentives once the business turns a profit. All the profits will be allocated as incentives for employees, dividends for shareholders and essential cash flow. More profits mean more incentives.

It remains to be seen whether the unprecedented experiment will prove to be successful but at least the car seems to be off to a good start. Its online-only preorders exceeded 25,000 vehicles, the highest figure for a Hyundai gasoline or diesel-powered car. 

< img alt="President Moon Jae-in makes an order for your Hyundai Casper at his / her office in Cheong Wa Dae on the first time of preorder on Sept. 14. (Cheong Wa Dae)" categoryid="9900000000000000" src="http://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2021/10/06/20211006000785_0.jpg">

Former us president Moon Jae-in makes a new good order for the Hyundai Casper at his office about Cheong Wa Dae at the first day of preorder on Sept. 14. (Cheong Wa Dae)

While the car’s main intention customers are the so-called “MZ generation” in their 20s toward 40s, the 68-year-old forthcoming also purchased the car to work with himself to add weight to actually his pet project.

Due to a surge back in orders, the official server offers shut down briefly on the 1st day of preorders within Sept. 14. Moon in reportedly had to wait for some time until he succeeded in making an order.

Of the three cuts priced at 13. 85 to 18. 7 million won, the woman pick was a khaki-colored mid-trim Modern model with a turbocharged engine. The bill came in with 15. 9 million collected.

“It is a project that I previously had pledged as a presidential campaigner since 2012. After ceaseless talks between the private world and the government, a web 2 . 0 consensus has been reached, creating the first car plant individuals nation in decades, ” Moon said.  
 
“I presume great that the car brings finally debuted and recent jobs at the plant may very well be helping reinvigorate the comarcal economy. I hope not just Gwangju citizens but also all Koreans love the car. ”

Largely buoyed by the early positive response to the now affectionately telephoned “president’s car, ” Hyundai plans to debut some sort of version of the Casper here in 2023.

Merely by Lee Ji-yoon ( jylee@heraldcorp. com )

Phase of the moon takes Hyundai Casper for just a spin
Philippines Truth