SEOUL, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Co plans to make Russia a major production base, churning out 150,000 cars per year in the country from 2012, the top South Korean car maker said on Thursday.

Hyundai, the world's No. 5 auto maker along with its affiliate Kia Motors Corp, will also develop Europe-tailored models to increase sales and profitability, chairman Chung Mong-koo said, according to a transcript.

"High oil prices and the financial crisis have been denting the global automobile market, but we will keep plant operations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia stable and boost sales of strategic models, including Cee'd and i30," he told reporters upon returning from a visit to Russia, accompanying President Lee Myung-bak.

The Cee'd is a middle-class car and the i30 is a hatchback.

Hyundai started building its St Petersburg plant in June with investment of 330 million euros (S$677 million), for a January, 2011 launch.

The latest production target compared with June, when an unnamed source told Reuters that Hyundai Motor planned to produce 300,000 vehicles a year at its Russian plants after 2011.

Hyundai already assembles cars in Russia at the Taganrog car plant in the south of the country under a license agreement.

In September, Hyundai and other South Korean automakers posted a dip in combined sales, hit by strikes at Hyundai and weaker domestic demand as the global financial crisis bit.