Construction will start in October of this year and be completed in the second half of 2024, aiming to mass-produce electric vehicles
Hyundai Motor Company has decided to advance the completion date of the electric vehicle-only plant to be established in Georgia, USA.
According to the automobile industry on the 22nd, Hyundai Motor is actively considering a plan to advance the start date of the electric vehicle plant in Georgia within this year.
Initially, Hyundai Motor was aiming for construction to begin in the first half of next year and to be completed in the first half of 2025 and mass-produced electric vehicles.
It usually takes about two years to establish a factory dedicated to electric vehicles.
If the early start of construction is realized, the time of plant completion and mass production will be the second half of 2024, six months earlier than the first half of 2025.
Construction is likely to start in October of this year.
Georgia State Economic Development Minister Pat Wilson recently visited South Korea to meet Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, and the two reportedly discussed ways to accelerate the establishment of an electric vehicle-only plant.
In this regard, Minister Wilson said in an interview with the domestic media that he is making efforts to start the construction of Hyundai Motor’s plant early, and that the goal is to start construction at the end of October and start operation in October 2024.
The reason Hyundai Motor Company is moving ahead with the schedule is because of the US inflation reduction law.
The law, recently signed into force by US President Joe Biden, stipulates that only electric vehicles that are finally assembled in North America can receive subsidies.
All electric vehicles currently sold by Hyundai Motor Group, such as the Ioniq 5 and EV6, are produced and exported in Korea, so they are inevitably excluded from this benefit.
In the United States, subsidies are paid out in the form of tax credits, and the amount is about 10 million won.
If they are excluded from subsidy benefits, Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle price will increase by 10 million won each, which could lead to a sharp drop in sales.
This means that unless electric vehicles are produced and sold in the United States, the competitiveness of electric vehicle sales in the United States, the largest in the global automobile market, will inevitably fall behind for several years.
In Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the like has come forward to convey concerns to the US that the law may violate the principles of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and World Trade Organization (WTO) norms. At the moment, this is the only solution.
Hyundai Motor has switched production facilities to produce the Genesis GV70 electrified model from the end of this year at its existing Alabama plant, but industry analysts say that it is difficult to produce flagship models such as the Ioniq 5 or EV6 on this scale.
/yunhap news