Pyeonghwa Motors

Pyeonghwa Motors
Pyeonghwa Jadongcha
평화자동차

Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Key people	Park Sang-Kwon, CEO
Products	Automobiles
Owner(s)	Ryonbong Unification Church Pyeonghwa Motors
Website	Official Page

Pyeonghwa Motors (Hangul : 평화자동차) (Hancha : 平和自動車), (a Korean language word for "peace", also spelled Pyonghwa) is one of only two car manufacturers and dealers in North Korean automotive industry. It is a joint-venture in Nampo between Pyonghwa Motors of Seoul (South Korea), a company owned by Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, and the North Korean Ryonbong General Corp. The joint venture produces small cars under licence from Fiat and Brilliance China Auto,^[1], a pick-up truck and an SUV using complete knock down kits from Chinese manufacturer Dandong Shuguang, a Mercedes-Benz/SsangYong design luxury cars.

Pyeonghwa has the exclusive rights to car production, purchase, and sale of used cars in North Korea. However, most North Koreans are unable to afford a car. Because of the very small market for cars in the country, Pyeonghwa's output is reportedly very low. In 2003, only 314 cars were produced even though the factory had the facilities to produce up to 10,000 cars a year.^[2] Erik van Ingen Schenau, author of the book Automobiles Made in North Korea, has estimated the company's total production in 2005 at not more than around 400 units.^[3]

Early 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

Further models and partnerships

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 Pyeonghwa, the Junma,^[4] which appears to be a rebadged version of the South Korean SsangYong Chairman.^[5][6] 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 E-Class design.

In the same year, Pyeonghwa also reached an agreement with Chinese manufacturer Brilliance China Auto to assemble its Jinbei Haise vans, which are based on an old version of the Toyota Hiace.^[7][8]

In 2007, Pyeonghwa introduced Brilliance's Junjie car under the name Hwiparam II. (The original Fiat-based Hwiparam still appears on Pyeonghwa's website.)^[9]

In 2009, Pyeonghwa announced a profit on its North Korean operations.^[10]

The Premio and Pronto are also sold in Vietnam by Mekong Auto^[11] (Mekong Auto has sold Fiat cars in Vietnam since 1995, and this relationship may have led to Pyeonghwa assembling Fiats in North Korea.)

Advertising

Pyeonghwa is currently the only company in North Korea to advertise. A series of billboards and TV commercials have been made in an effort to show residents that their country is still able to produce products such as motor vehicles. The ads may be aimed primarily at expatriate businesspeople in Pyongyang, but Car and Driver magazine suggests that they are actually propaganda aimed at the local population, to make them believe that their country is economically successful.^[12]

• 

  Pyonghwa Motors billboard showing the Hwiparam.

• 

  An advertising board of "Pyeonghwa Motors" in Pyongyang.

• 

  A poster for the PMC Hwiparam (Premio DX II) at a Mekong Auto dealership in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Joint-venture stockholders

• 70% Pyeonghwa Motors (Seoul) (owned by the Unification Church)
• 30% Ryonbong Corp.

Model list

• Hwiparam I, 2000, based on the Fiat Siena.
• Hwiparam Ia, 2004, based on the Fiat Premio.
• Hwiparam II, 2007, based on the Brilliance's Junjie.
• Bbeokgugi (Peokkugi) 1, 2003, based on the Fiat Doblò.
• Bbeokgugi (Peokkugi) 2, 2004, based on the Shuguang SUV 4x2.
• Bbeokgugi (Peokkugi) 3, 2004, based on the Shuguang pick-up.
• Bbeokgugi (Peokkugi) 4, 2005, based on the Shuguang SUV 4x4.
• Junma, 2006, concept car based on the SsangYong Chairman H^[13]
• Zunma, 2008, series production of the Junma^[14]

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• List of Korean car makers

Notes

1. ^ "Pyongwha Fiparam, el utilitario que anima la industria del automóvil de la RPDC" (in Spanish). Choson Digest. http://www.coreadelnorte.host.sk/autos.php. Retrieved 2011-08-08. 
2. ^ http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200401/200401180004.html
3. ^ China Car Forums - View Single Post - CBA partners with Pyeonghwa Motors of North Korea
4. ^ "Naenara"
5. ^ Ssangyong Chairman Limousine 4d - Global Auto Index
6. ^ http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pyeonghwamotors.com%2Fkor%2Fboardproduct%2Fboardcontent.html%3Fcode%3DMENU38&sl=auto&tl=en&history_state0=
7. ^ CBA partners with Pyeonghwa Motors of North Korea - China Car Forums
8. ^ "Naenara"
9. ^ Chinese cars abroad - Page 5 - China Car Forums
10. ^ Pyeonghwa Sells in North Korea, Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2009
11. ^ : Welcome to Mekong Auto :
12. ^ Berkowitz, Justin (August 2010), "Cars from the "Axis of Evil": North Korea", Car and Driver, http://www.caranddriver.com/features/10q3/cars_from_the_axis_of_evil_north_korea-feature, retrieved 2010-09-08 
13. ^ http://www.pyeonghwamotors.com/ former advertisement on the main page
14. ^ http://www.pyeonghwamotors.com/kor/boardproduct/boardcontent.html?code=MENU36 official Website of the Pyeonghwa Zunma

External links

• Official website
• Pyongwha brochure (PDF) on the Korean Friendship Association website
• Photos of North Korean vehicles including Pyeonghwa models, compiled by the author of Automobiles Made in North Korea