Automotiv Exports July 2022

Hyundai pledges to invest more
than $10B in US up to 2025
South Korean carmaker Hyundai pledged
it would invest an additional $5 billion in
the United States by 2025 to strengthen
collaboration with U.S. firms in advanced
technology. The announcement came
as President Joe Biden tended to both
business and security interests, as he
wrapped up a three-day trip to South
Korea. The investments are for robotics,
urban air mobility, autonomous driving and
artificial intelligence, the group said.
Hyundai Motor Group, which houses
Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp, announced
plans to invest $5.5 billion in Georgia to
build electric vehicle (EV) and battery
facilities. The new investment brings
its planned U.S. total through 2025 to
about $10 billion, above the $7.4 billion it
announced last year. The world’s thirdbiggest
automaker by vehicles sales did
not say where in the United States the
additional $5 billion would be invested.
At a time of high inflation and simmering
dissatisfaction at home, Biden emphasized
his global mission to strengthen the
American economy by convincing foreign
companies like Hyundai to launch new
operations in the U.S.
“Thanks to Hyundai, we are being part
of this transformative automobile sector
and accelerating us on a road where we’re
going to be handing to the United States
of all-electric future,” Biden told a news
conference.
“Electric vehicles are good for our climate
goals, but they’re also good for jobs,” he
said. “And they’re good for business.”
Standing next to him after a meeting,
Hyundai Motor Group chairperson Euisun
Chung said, “I am confident that this new
plant in Georgia will help us become a
leader in the American automobile industry
with regards to building high-quality
electric vehicles for our U.S. customers.”
The auto group said it would invest 21
trillion won ($16 billion) through 2030 to
expand its EV business in South Korea.
The major U.S. investment by a South
Korean company was a reflection of
how the countries are leveraging their
longstanding military ties into a broader
economic partnership.
Earlier in his trip, Biden toured a computer
chip plant run by Samsung, the Korean
electronics giant that plans to build a $17
billion production facility in Texas.
Biden has made greater economic
cooperation with South Korea a priority,
saying that “it will bring our two countries
even closer together, cooperating even
more closely than we already do, and help
strengthen our supply chains, secure them
against shocks and give our economies a
competitive edge.”
The pandemic and Russia’s invasion
of Ukraine in February have forced a
deeper rethinking of national security
and economic alliances. Coronavirus
outbreaks led to shortages of computer
chips, autos and other goods that the
Biden administration says can ultimately
be fixed by having more manufacturing
domestically and with trusted allies.
Hyundai’s Georgia factory is expected to
employ 8,100 workers and produce up
to 300,000 vehicles annually, with plans
for construction to begin early next year
and production to start in 2025 near the
unincorporated town of Ellabell.
A senior Biden administration official,
who briefed reporters on the condition of
anonymity, said there was no contradiction
between Biden encouraging investors
to embrace union workforces while his
administration does “whatever it can” to
encourage investment and bring jobs to
the U.S.
JULY 2022 94