Hyundai Breaks Ground On Its First U.S. Auto Plant

Autoparts Report, April 20, 2002

Hyundai Motor Co. broke ground on the company's first U.S. automotive manufacturing plant, to be built on 1,620 acres of land in Montgomery, Alabama. The $1 billion facility, set to begin production in 2005, will produce the next generation of the Sonata sedan and Santa Fe sport utility vehicle. At peak production, the facility will employ approximately 2,000 people and produce 300,000 vehicles per year.

The site will include a manufacturing and assembly facility, as well as a stamping plant and an engine plant.

The decision to build the facility in Alabama comes on the heels of continued strong sales growth in the U.S. market. In 2001 alone, the Hyundai Automotive Group (which consists of the Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors in the United States) saw sales of 569,956 units in the United States, an increase of 29 percent over 2000 and the largest increase in the auto industry.

Alabama landed the plant with incentives reportedly worth about $118.5 million, including $75 million to train workers for jobs on its assembly lines. Kentucky reportedly offered a package of incentives valued at around $123 million, including $70 million for the acquisition of property and plant construction costs.

Alabama economic leaders said the plant will be the lightning strike the state's economy needs, equating its potential impact to that of the $600 million, 1,900 worker Mercedes- Benz production plant at Vance, Ala.