Hyundai's Staria minivans accompany Kim Jong-un in Russia

author: FutureCar Staff    

During North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to Russia, four Hyundai Motor Staria minivans were spotted serving as security cars for him. The vehicles were featured in a 90-minute documentary titled "An Incident that Led to a New Milestone for the Development of North Korea-Russia Relations," which was broadcasted by Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central Television. The footage showed the Starias with Hyundai Motor emblems escorting Kim's Mercedes-Benz as he traveled to Vladivostok after his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome spaceport on September 13.

South Korean news reports suggest that the Russian government provided the security vehicles, as they had Russian license plates. It is unusual for North Korean broadcasters to show unedited footage with the logos of South Korean companies, as they usually prefer to edit or blur out such symbols. For example, during the airing of last year's Qatar World Cup, Korean Central Television edited out the Hyundai Motor advertisements that surrounded the football pitch.

The Staria minivan, introduced in 2021, features a futuristic design and spacious interior. It is Hyundai's first minivan in 22 years since the Trajet XG. Hyundai was the leading automaker in Russia before the war in Ukraine, with its Saint-Petersburg plant producing Solaris sedans and Creta SUVs with an annual production capacity of 200,000. However, the plant had to pause operations in March, and Hyundai's Russia subsidiary has suffered losses of nearly 500 billion won ($373 million) since the war.

By Sarah Chea [[email protected]]

FutureCar Staff