Hyundai Opens Mega U.S. Plant That’ll Build Up to 500,000 Vehicles a Year
Two days after announcing a huge $21 billion USD investment over four years to produce vehicles and steel in the U.S., Korean automaker Hyundai officially inaugurated its new Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia on Wednesday.
The top brass at Hyundai and Kia were on hand alongside the state’s governor, other local officials, union leaders and hundreds of employees.
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Located in Ellabell just outside of Savannah, HMGMA broke ground in the fall of 2022 and started building its first vehicles in early October of last year, namely Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric crossovers. The all-new 2026 IONIQ 9 is also now in production and will be joined next year by the first Kia model to be built at the facility. Some vehicles under the Genesis luxury brand will be made there, too.
HMGMA has the capacity to initially produce 300,000 vehicles annually. However, following the announcement from earlier this week, the goal now is to produce up to 500,000 units a year including a mix of EVs and hybrids.
Hyundai Motor Group's investment in Georgia related to HMGMA and joint battery ventures with LG Energy Solution and SK On is $12.6 billion USD. The plan calls for a total of 8,500 jobs by 2031.
HMGMA has integrated a variety of proof-of-concept manufacturing technologies and systems from the automaker’s Innovation Center in Singapore, scaling these to accommodate the larger production volume at the Georgia facility. What’s more, all processes—from order collection to procurement, logistics and production—are optimized using AI and real-time data, and cutting-edge robotics and vision systems ensure high-quality vehicle production.
