Aug 6 (Reuters) - General Motors ( GM ) and Hyundai

Motor ( HYMLF ) announced on Wednesday their first agreement

to jointly develop five vehicles.

Four of the vehicles - a compact SUV, a car, a pickup, and a

mid-size pickup - are targeted at Central and South American

markets and will support both internal combustion and hybrid

powertrains.

The two global automakers will also co-develop an

electric commercial van for the North American markets.

Reuters in March reported that the two automakers were

nearing a deal to share two commercial electric vans.

Global automakers face stiff competition from Chinese EV

makers and a trade war impacting imports of crucial parts,

including rare earth materials, which has pushed production

costs higher.

Chinese automakers have put out several high-tech,

low-cost models, affecting demand for EVs from legacy automakers

including GM.

Hyundai's presence in China - the world's largest auto

market - is minimal but it faces growing pressure from Chinese

auto exports globally.

The Korean automaker is leaning on its U.S. sales while

its China sales decline. Unlike GM, Hyundai has little presence

in the lucrative U.S. commercial vehicle and truck market.

Collaborating with Hyundai on vans could help GM reduce

development costs on those models, especially considering its

decades-old Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana vehicles.

At full production scale, the companies expect to roll

out up to 800,000 vehicles annually.