Already the world’s third-largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Group announced major growth plans Thursday as part of its new “Vision and Product Roadmap,” and much of the $55 billion program will be focused on the U.S. market. The roadmap expands upon earlier plans announced this year calling for Hyundai to invest $26 billion in the U.S.
By 2030, Hyundai – and sibling brands Kia and Genesis – will get a major boost in local production. Among other things, the automaker will invest $2.7 billion to boost the capacity of its Metaplant near Savannah, Georgia to 500,000 vehicles annually, CEO Jose Munoz told investors in a global presentation. All told, the three brands will locally produce 80% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. market. Worldwide, Hyundai plans to add another 1.2 million units of capacity by 2030.
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An employee inspects a Hyundai Motor Co. Ioniq 5 electric vehicle on the final inspection line in Korea. Much of Hyundai’s production will be shifting to the U.S.. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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The roadmap will bring a surge of new electrified vehicles to market, with 10 different EVs and hybridized models to roll out of the Georgia assembly plant. All told, Munoz said, the group will have “18+ hybrids,” including a first-ever extended-range electric vehicle, or EREV.
Metaplant to Play a Major Role
Hyundai Metaplant
Hyundai
Hyundai initially invested $7.6 billion in the Metaplant complex near Savannah. It officially opened on March 26, 2025, though it actually began production last October. The factory was originally intended to build only all-electric models like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 but, with demand for EVs slowing, the automaker announced earlier this year that it would add the capacity to produce hybrid models there, as well.
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Under the new plan, Hyundai will invest another $2.7 billion in the Savannah operation. The Phase 2 project is expected to add another 200,000 units of production capacity, bringing the annual total to 500,000 vehicles. In the process, the automaker said, that also will create another 3,000 U.S. jobs. The expansion also will help Hyundai minimize the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on imported autos. And, by boosting local sourcing, that will minimize duties on foreign-made parts.
The complex will produce a new generation of batteries which, Hyundai said, will achieve a “30 percent cost reduction, 15 percent higher energy density and 15 percent shorter charging times” by 2027. It also will introduce a new cloud-based battery management system next year.
ICE
ICE Raid Delays Project
Work on the Metaplant’s new battery factory has been set back several months, according to Hyundai and its battery partner LG Energy Solutions, due to the raid earlier this month by the ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency. All told, about 400 workers were detained, including nearly 300 South Korean nationals. The incident set off a diplomatic fury between the two traditionally staunch allies and has led to delays at other Korean projects in the U.S., according to sources that spoke to Autoblog on background.
Many of those detained by ICE had technical skills not available in the U.S. where there has been limited production of lithium batteries until now, Hyundai and LG insiders explained, adding that the Koreans were beginning to train local workers to take over. “We hope the U.S. and Korea can work on mutually beneficial solutions for short-term business travel, especially for a specialized technical expertise,” Munoz said from New York City as part of the U.S.-Korea investors presentation.
GM CEO Mary Barra and Hyundai CEO Euisun Chung sign a memorandum of understanding on August 7, 2024.
Expanded Partnerships
The Vision and Product Roadmap calls for Hyundai to step up some of the partnerships it’s entered into, a number of them based in the United States. Arguably, the most significant is a strategic alliance with General Motors. The two automakers first inked the agreement in 2024 but only last month provided clear details on what it will bring to market, Munoz at the time saying “Hyundai’s strategic collaboration with GM will help us continue to deliver value and choice to our customers across multiple vehicle segments and markets.”
The alliance will start off with the launch of five co-developed vehicles “as early as 2028,” Munoz said Thursday, including electric commercial vans for North America, along with compact SUVS and compact and midsize SUVs for Central and South America. Hyundai said it expects combined annual sales of 800,000 vehicles once production gets fully underway.
Along with the GM alliance, Hyundai noted this week that it will move to expand relations with Amazon providing it another retail marketing outlet. A separate alliance with Waymo is currently testing the potential for using Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 EV in the Google spin-off’s robotaxi fleet. Separately, Hyundai’s roadmap calls for it to invest 15.3 trillion won, or $10.9 billion, to expand production capacity and “establish a robotics ecosystem in the United States. The Korean company purchased Boston Dynamics, a company known for its anthropomorphic robots in 2021. Hyundai hopes to take on challengers, including Tesla, as a new generation of robots comes to market. It sees opportunities to introduce them into non-traditional settings beyond the factories where they’re already commonplace.
