HYUNDAI TRANS KAZAKHSTAN
Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan, a subsidiary of Astana Motors, is a full-cycle plant for the production of Hyundai passenger cars.
The plant has a production capacity of 50 thousand cars annually. In 2022, the plant produced 37,205 cars, in 2023, 48,857 cars. In 2024, 45,410 cars. In 2025, 52 040 cars were manufactured. Since 2020, the plant has produced 217,635 cars in total.
Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan manufactures 8 Hyundai models: Tucson, Mufasa, Sonata, Elantra, Santa Fe, Palisade, Staria, Custin. In 2024, a production line for Genesis executive-class cars was akso launched. Through welding and painting (Completely Knocked-Down, CKD), the plant manufactures Hyundai Accent, Hyundai Tucson, and in April 2025, has set up CKD production for another model – the Hyundai Santa Fe.
Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan performs all operations in strict compliance with the approved production process of Hyundai Motor Company. Each car is tested for compliance with Hyundai international standards.
In November 2023, Astana Motors started a project to expand the production facilities and modernize the workshops. The first phase of modernization, including the construction of a new workshop and a PDI (pre-delivery inspection) workshop, was completed in July 2024. As a result, the production area of Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan grew by 6,000 sq. meters, bringing the total area of the plant to 40,000 sq. meters.
In 2025, aiming to deepen localization, Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan transitioned to a new technological level by robotizing its production processes.
From January to March 2025, Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan modernized and installed new equipment. This resulted in streamlined technological processes and a twofold increase in the volume of small-component (CKD) production with welding and painting.
Astana Motors invested 8.5 billion tenge into the project. Thanks to the upgraded production capacity, the plant can now produce more than 50% of its vehicles by the CKD method with welding and painting.
The modernization of Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan involved Kazakhstani specialists from the enterprise as well as invited engineers from Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), PAILANT, and DK&G (Republic of Korea). To reach the new technological level, Astana Motors purchased from the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the People’s Republic of China. As a result, 17 robots are now operating at the facility.
During the upgrade, 5 Hyundai Robotics welding robots (Republic of Korea), 14 servo guns with automatic electrode sharpening, and 111 upgraded welding guns were installed, along with an automatic conveyor, a roof roller with welding, and welding fixtures for the Hyundai Santa Fe model.
Robots now perform 30% of the welding operations at the most complex sections, such as door frames, where the highest concentration of hard-to-reach welding points is required.
Significant changes were implemented by engineers in the paint workshop. Six Yaskawa industrial robots (Japan) and an automatic conveyor for feeding car bodies to the painting line were put into operation. The mechanical part of the conveyor (chain, reducer) is from Korea, while the electric motors are from Japan.
The cataphoresis line and other production areas, such as sealing application, mastic application, and body preparation for painting and polishing, were also upgraded.
These changes doubled the workshop’s productivity, enabling the painting of 6.5 bodies per hour.
Modernization of the assembly shop also doubled its productivity – up to 6 vehicles per hour.
There are now 4 robots from SM AGV (Republic of Korea) for the automatic transport of body trolleys. The length of the assembly line was increased from 16 to 25 stations. An automatic EMS (Republic of Korea) chassis conveyor line with body suspensions for body transport was installed, as well as conveyors for interior and exterior part mounting lines, additional manipulators, and a YASKAWA robot for windshield sealant application.
Total investment, including plant modernization, amounted to 48.5 billion tenge.
Current number of jobs – 1,600.
History
On October 23, 2020, the plant, including body paint and welding workshops, plastic part paint workshops, and a component warehouse, was fully launched. Astana Motors fulfilled its obligations to build the Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan plant and implemented the project within one year during the pandemic. More than 120 engineers from South Korea were involved in installation of equipment at the new production facility in different stages.
The Hyundai Trans Kazakhstan project was implemented with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, the Industrial Development Fund, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, KazakhExport Export Insurance Company, and the Akimat of Almaty.
- Documentary film “The Tucson: How It Was Made in Kazakhstan”: in Kazakh, in Russian.
- Documentary film “ON DRIVE: 30 Years of Astana Motors.”