The Cases: Korean Vehicle Manufacturers in Europe (The 1990s)

Abstract

This chapter attempts to trace the activities of Korean VMs in Europe. It is suggested that the internationalisation process of a company should be understood at the corporate level; the company’s specific history and changes in the competitive and regulatory environment (Nilsson et al. 1996). This study, therefore, selected two Korean companies in Europe as particular cases. These companies are HMC and DMC. In 1997, both companies comprised over 70 per cent of the country’s total in terms of production, sales and exports (Table 6.1). KMC is considered as a part of HMC based on the fact that Hyundai merged with KMC in October 1998.