(Adds DaimlerChrysler comment, shares, analyst)
By Samuel Len
SEOUL, May 23 (Reuters) - Labour demands are delaying the launch of a Hyundai Motor Co joint venture with DaimlerChrysler AG to make trucks in South Korea, Hyundai said on Friday.
South Korea's top auto maker has said it plans to launch the 400 million-euro ($467.7 million) joint venture in the first half of this year, and although analysts said a minor delay would not hurt either company, it could strain their ties.
A Hyundai official said talks with unions had continued for months over issues including a union demand for job guarantees for workers transferred to the joint venture, in which each company holds 50 percent.
"The joint venture is something that has to be realised," the spokesman said. The 10-year job guarantee issue was difficult for management to accept, he added.
"The timing of the launch has not been set in stone and can be delayed," he said, adding that no decision had been made to postpone the deal as talks were continuing.
A spokesman for DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth biggest auto maker, said the joint venture was not jeopardised by the delay and the timing of the deal rested solely on Hyundai.
"We are ready to go and the labour negotiations are the only delay," said the spokesman for the Stuttgart-based group.
DaimlerChrysler shares were down 2.0 percent at 0843 GMT, underperforming the European auto sector .
Analysts say a minor delay would not be too significant for DaimlerChrysler, the world's biggest truckmaker, but the quicker the joint venture gets off the ground the better.
"This is only one of very many joint ventures DaimlerChrysler is involved in but the group needs to deliver on the promised cost savings between its units and joint ventures and this is part of the global picture," said Henrik Lier, an auto analyst at WestLB Panmure in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Daimler has targeted Korea as one of the main areas of trucks growth, along with Japan, where it is working with its partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp . The German group is also seek a partner in China.
STRAINED RELATIONS?
Analysts have said a delayed launch of the venture would not have a serious impact on Hyundai, since cars accounted for the bulk of its earnings.
But any strained ties with U.S.-German carmaker, which owns 10 percent of Hyundai, could take some of the shine off the Korean car maker, analysts said.
In 2001, DaimlerChrysler and Hyundai formed a joint venture in South Korea to produce diesel engines.
Moody's Investors Service said on Friday it had upgraded the debt ratings of Hyundai Motor to Ba1 from Ba2 and gave the auto maker a stable rating outlook, which it said reflected its solid operating performance and growing global presence.
South Korea suffers regular bouts of labour unrest and there has been rising concern among analysts the administration of President Roh Moo-hyun, who rose to office on a populist platform, has been soft in dealing with unions.
Hyundai shares closed up 4.73 percent at 28,800 won on Friday, outperforming a 2.82 percent rise in the main stock index . (Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in Frankfurt)