Pyonghwa Motors
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| Pyonghwa Motors | |
|---|---|
| Hangul: | 평화 자동차 |
| Hanja: | 平和 自動車 |
| Revised Romanization: | Pyeonghwa |
| McCune-Reischauer: | P'yŏnghwa |
Pyonghwa Motors (also spelled Pyeonghwa) is originally a South Korean car importer, which set up a car producing joint-venture with the North Korean Ryonbong General Corp. in Nampo. It produces two small cars under licence from Fiat, and a pick-up truck and an SUV using CKD kits from Chinese manufacturer Dandong Shuguang.
In summer 2006, the North Korean government magazine Foreign Trade, which advertises North Korean products, published a photograph of a new luxury car produced by Pyonghwa, the Junma [1], which appears to be a rebadged version of the South Korean SsangYong Chairman [2]. The Chairman bears a strong resemblance to Mercedes-Benz cars, which are favoured by North Korean government officials, and is indeed based on an old Mercedes design, the W124 E-Class. The same issue of Foreign Trade also contains an advertisement for Pyonghwa vans [3].
Since most North Koreans do not know how to drive nor are financially able to own a car, the cars are aimed at government officials and the few foreigners living in North Korea. Pyonghwa also plans to export cars to China, Vietnam and South Korea.
Pyonghwa has the exclusive rights to car production, purchase, and sale of used cars in North Korea.
Contents |
[edit] Joint-venture stockholders
- 70% Pyonghwa Motors (Seoul) (owned by the Unification Church)
- 30% Ryonbong Corp.
[edit] Car models
- Hwiparam (휘파람 - Whistle) - based on the Fiat Siena
- Ppeokkugi (뻐꾸기 - Cuckoo) - based on the Fiat Doblò
- Premio (also known as Cuckoo 3) - based on a Dandong Shuguang pick-up
- Pronto (also known as Cuckoo 2) - based on a Dandong Shuguang SUV
- Junma - apparently based on the SsangYong Chairman
[edit] History
- 1999, April - founded by the Unification Church
- 2000, January - the joint-venture with Ryonbong is announced
- 2002, April - first production line in Nampo was completed and the first Hwiparam was produced
- 2004 - Premio and Pronto introduced
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
(Korean) * Official website, in Korean
- Entry for Pyonghwa at Autoindex.org
- North Korean government commercial for foreign investment in Pyongwha motors, and with a link to a 10 minute video showing the Hwiparam
- South Korean newspaper article
- more recent South Korean newspaper article
(Spanish) * A Spanish article with a few photos
