Amid criticism from president-elect Donald Trump of some vehicle manufacturers’ North American manufacturing investment strategies, Hyundai-Kia is stressing that it plans high levels of investment in its US operations over the next five years.
According to Bloomberg, Hyundai and Kia are planning to spend US$3.1bn in the US in the next five years. Hyundai Motor President Chung Jin-haeng told reporters in Seoul that the planned US investment is around 50% greater than the spend in the previous five-year period. He also said the group is also considering building a new factory in the US. It could produce its premium brand Genesis vehicles in the US or an SUV for the US market, Chung said.
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“We expect a boost in the US economy and increased demand for various models as President-elect Trump follows through on his promise to create one million jobs in five years,” Chung told Bloomberg. “We will actively consider introducing new models that have increasing demand and profits.”
Bloomberg reported that Hyundai and Kia will invest 30-40% of the US$3.1bn on new technologies such as autonomous driving and green cars. The rest will be spent on facilities and adding new models, according to the company.
The news agency noted that Hyundai has been considering expanding its plant in Montgomery, Alabama, which produces the Sonata, Elantra sedans and Santa Fe crossover as the plant is running at its top capacity of 370,000 cars a year. Kia’s factory in West Point, Georgia is also at full tilt, producing 360,000 units of the Optima sedan and Sorento SUV a year, Bloomberg notes.
Kia also opened a new 200,000 unit-a-year production line in Mexico two months before the US presidential election and plans to increase capacity there to 400,000 vehicles-a-year by the end of 2018.
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