President Moon Jae-in and his wife Kim Jung-sook on Wednesday test-drove their new car, the Hyundai Casper, renewing awareness for the first private-public experiment to create jobs at a car manufacturing plant. 

“Despite its compact size, it is a sturdy car. I like the spacious interior, too,” the president said as the couple was briefed on the car structure and function from a Hyundai Motor official upon the car’s delivery at Cheong Wa Dae.

The Casper is a 1-liter micro SUV from Hyundai Motor. It is the first mini car from the nation’s largest carmaker in 19 years. What makes the vehicle more special is it is the first car produced at a 575.4 billion won ($482.7 million) joint venture plant between Hyundai and the Gwangju city government.

The so-called “Gwangju-style Job Project” is one of eight projects across the nation that aim to revitalize the regional economy and create jobs for youngsters there -- Moon’s key campaign pledge.

The Casper plant, called Gwangju Global Motors, is responsible for manufacturing vehicles outsourced by Hyundai, while the city government offers a 628,000-square-meter plot of land for the site and other welfare benefits for the employees like housing expenses.

A total of 571 people work at the plant currently, with almost 90 percent of them in their 20s and 30s. The average age at other Hyundai plants is about 50.

Because most of them are less experienced workers, a group of “supporters” who are veteran technicians are training them under an apprentice system.

The average annual pay is relatively low at 35 million won for 44 hours of work per week, almost half the industry average here. And the pay increase will be limited based on the inflation rate until the production capacity reaches an accumulative 350,000 units. The plant aims to raise the production capacity to 12,000 vehicles by the end of this year and to 70,000 vehicles next year.

But the pay gap will be filled with incentives once the business turns a profit. All the profits will be allocated as incentives for employees, dividends for shareholders and essential cash flow. More profits mean more incentives.

It remains to be seen whether the unprecedented experiment will prove to be successful but at least the car seems to be off to a good start. Its online-only preorders exceeded 25,000 vehicles, the highest figure for a Hyundai gasoline or diesel-powered car. 

While the car’s main target customers are the so-called “MZ generation” in their 20s to 40s, the 68-year-old president also purchased the car for himself to add weight to his pet project.

Due to a surge in orders, the official server was shut down briefly on the first day of preorders on Sept. 14. Moon also reportedly had to wait for some time until he succeeded in making an order.

Of the three trims priced at 13.85 to 18.7 million won, his pick was a khaki-colored mid-trim Modern model with a turbo engine. The bill came in at 15.9 million won.

“It is a project that I had pledged as a presidential candidate since 2012. After ceaseless talks between the private sector and the government, a social consensus has been reached, creating the first car plant in our nation in decades,” Moon said. 
 
“I feel great that the car has finally debuted and new jobs at the plant are helping reinvigorate the regional economy. I hope not just Gwangju citizens but also all Koreans love the car.”

Largely buoyed by the early positive reaction to the now affectionately called “president’s car,” Hyundai plans to debut an electric version of the Casper in 2023.