Photo: Hyundai
Hyundai is on a roll with electric vehicles, even surpassing Ford in EV sales in the U.S. The Korean carmaker has added new models to its Ioniq line of electric cars and is now looking to build a dedicated EV production facility in its home country.
Hyundai is looking for more production capacity with the recently revealed Ioniq 6 added to its full-electric lineup. The company is also working to bring the Ioniq 7 to the market in 2024 and desperately needs new production facilities. Although a U.S. factory is slated to break ground next year, Hyundai wants to appease its Korean unions with investments at home.
Last May, Hyundai pledged to invest 63 trillion won ($48.1 billion) in South Korea through 2025. This came after Hyundai Motor’s unionized workers in South Korea expressed anger over management’s decision to prioritize investment outside the country. That’s why Hyundai will build its first dedicated EV factory in Korea. In fact, the new factory announcement was made by the company’s union, which confirmed that production will start by 2025.
“Sales of internal-combustion-engine vehicles are scheduled to be banned in certain markets so the new EV factory is vital to Hyundai Motor’s survival,” Chang Moon-su, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, explained to Automotive News.
This would be the first new car factory to open in Korea in almost three decades. The company’s last new car factory in the country (the Asan Plant) started operations in 1996. Currently, Hyundai’s electric vehicles are built at Ulsan Plant 1 in Korea (Ioniq 5), HMM Czech (Kona EV), and HMM Indonesia (Ioniq 5). The Asan plant will also start building the Ioniq 6 soon.
Hyundai announced in May that it would invest $5.5 billion in the U.S. to build full EV and battery manufacturing facilities near Savannah, Georgia. The construction should begin next year, while commercial production is planned for the first half of 2025. If we take the union for granted, the Korean EV factory will start production even sooner. This makes it Hyundai’s first dedicated EV factory to become operational.
Last May, Hyundai pledged to invest 63 trillion won ($48.1 billion) in South Korea through 2025. This came after Hyundai Motor’s unionized workers in South Korea expressed anger over management’s decision to prioritize investment outside the country. That’s why Hyundai will build its first dedicated EV factory in Korea. In fact, the new factory announcement was made by the company’s union, which confirmed that production will start by 2025.
“Sales of internal-combustion-engine vehicles are scheduled to be banned in certain markets so the new EV factory is vital to Hyundai Motor’s survival,” Chang Moon-su, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, explained to Automotive News.
This would be the first new car factory to open in Korea in almost three decades. The company’s last new car factory in the country (the Asan Plant) started operations in 1996. Currently, Hyundai’s electric vehicles are built at Ulsan Plant 1 in Korea (Ioniq 5), HMM Czech (Kona EV), and HMM Indonesia (Ioniq 5). The Asan plant will also start building the Ioniq 6 soon.
Hyundai announced in May that it would invest $5.5 billion in the U.S. to build full EV and battery manufacturing facilities near Savannah, Georgia. The construction should begin next year, while commercial production is planned for the first half of 2025. If we take the union for granted, the Korean EV factory will start production even sooner. This makes it Hyundai’s first dedicated EV factory to become operational.
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