Hyundai Motor’s heavy-duty truck Xcient won the “Truck of the Year 2017” award from a Chinese auto magazine, beating European and Japanese carmakers , the company said Thursday.

Xcient is a two-engine luxury truck manufactured in a commercial vehicle plant in Ziyuan, Sichuan province. Hyundai was named the top in the award’s tractor category for the second consecutive year.

“Xcient is the best big truck that is luxury and sophisticated outside and more silent inside than other competitors,” said China Automotive News. “In a comprehensive review of product quality on fuel efficiency, power and driving convenience, (Xcient) received higher scores than its competitors,” it added.



Since 2014, Hyundai has been producing Xcient in China, in a joint venture Sichuan Nanjun Automobile.

The joint operation on truck production had begun to meet the growing market demand for big trucks in China in line with the government’s urban development planning project in central and western parts of the country.

In particular, Xcient produced and sold in China was exclusively developed by studying the traffic conditions and driving environment in China, Hyundai’s Seoul office said.

“We believe that the award reflects the market recognition of (Xcient’s) quality and outstanding competitiveness in China,” the carmaker said in a statement.

“Based on that (market review), we will more actively target the commercial vehicle market in China.”

The joint venture with Sichuan Nanjun Automobile was established in 2012 to target the Chinese commercial auto market with an estimated market demand of 4 million units a year.

Hyundai plans to roll out the mid-sized truck “Mighty” in China next year.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)