Seoul, March 21
Hyundai Motor Group is accelerating efforts to expand its production footprint in the United States, amid US President Donald Trump's continued call for foreign companies to manufacture in the country to do business there, according to industry observers on Friday.

According to the industry sources, the group plans to hold an official opening ceremony next week for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), its electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid production facility located in Savannah, Georgia, reports Yonhap news agency.

Although the 11.83 million-square-meter plant has been in partial operation since late last year, it will officially commence full-scale operations following the ceremony.

HMGMA currently operates under a limited capacity of 300,000 units per year, but Hyundai aims to boost it up to 500,000 units once the US$5.54 billion facility becomes fully operational.

Combined with Hyundai Motor Co.'s existing Alabama plant, with a capacity of 330,000 units, and Kia Corp.'s 350,000-unit plant, the South Korean automotive group is poised to boost its U.S.-based production capacity to around 1.18 million vehicles per year.

Last year, Hyundai and Kia sold a combined 1.7 million vehicles in the U.S., a 3.4 percent on-year increase and making the group the fourth-largest global automotive group in the U.S. market.

Next week's HMGMA ceremony comes as global automotive groups are bracing for looming reciprocal and sectoral tariffs on their exports to the U.S., which Trump has pledged to introduce since his election campaign.

Jose Munoz, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Hyundai Motor Co., has stressed that Hyundai's decision to invest in HMGMA was made during the first Trump administration and that its localization strategy in the U.S. market "will help mitigate the impact of any potential policy change."

"(HMGMA) is ramping up production of the Ioniq 5 EV, which is already on sale, and it is preparing to produce the Ioniq 9 EV at the end of Q1. Preparation to add hybrid production is already underway," Munoz, who took the helm of Hyundai Motor as the company's first CEO in January, said at a company shareholders' meeting on Thursday.

The White House said in a release on Thursday (U.S. time) that Hyundai Motor Group's push to expand its U.S. production capacity was part of a "manufacturing win" for the U.S. achieved through Trump's "America First" trade policy.

South Korean media outlets have reported that Hyundai was seeking to invite Trump to the HMGMA opening ceremony, along with key figures within the current Washington administration. The event is expected to be attended by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

The South Korean auto giant is also collaborating with American companies to create synergy in its U.S. operations, as well as in the global market.

In September, Hyundai Motor and General Motors Co. (GM) formed a partnership to push for joint production of passenger and commercial vehicles, as well as development of eco-friendly energy technologies, such as electric and hydrogen.

It marked Hyundai's first comprehensive cooperation agreement with a major foreign automaker.

Hyundai to double down on US production with new EV plant