Hyundai Motor Co., the fastest growing overseas automaker in China, said it's in talks to form a venture with Beijing Automobile Investments Co. and a U.S. company to lend money to Chinese car buyers.

``The financial company would be a tremendous boost to our sales,'' said Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Hyundai Motor Co., at an interview today in the Chinese capital. The three companies are aiming to secure all government approvals by the beginning of 2006 and start lending loans by the second half of next year, Xu said, declining to name the U.S. partner.

Three out of four cars sold in China are paid for in cash, a dearth of car loans that's attracted General Motors Acceptance Corp., Ford Motor Co. and other automakers to form ventures for lending money. They are hoping to bolster sales by offering cheaper financing to households and corporate buyers.

Hyundai, the fifth biggest automaker in terms of sales in China last year, almost tripled its sales last year after it slashed prices by an average of 10 percent in September. The Seoul-based company more than doubled its sales in China in the first quarter to 56,064 cars. It is aiming to sell 1 million cars in China by 2010, a fifth of the country's market share for passenger buses.