At Hyundai Motor’s noisy factory near Beijing airport, fresh-faced workers are busy attaching bumpers to Sonata sedans or mirrors to Tucson sports utility vehicles and spraying the multi-coloured Elantras that are destined to become taxis for the Chinese capital.

In five different models, 68 vehicles roll off the South Korean group’s production line every hour. The plant is producing 300,000 cars a year but output will double with the completion of a second facility next year.