Hyundai Plans to Make 200,000 EVs a Year at Plant in S. Korea

Hyundai Motor Company is set to embark on the construction of a new factory for electric vehicle production in South Korea.

The factory is expected to have the capacity to produce 200,000 electric cars annually. The groundbreaking ceremony for this new facility took place in Ulsan, the same city where Hyundai established its first car manufacturing plants in 1968.

Production is scheduled to commence later this year, with large-scale production set to begin in the first quarter of 2026, with the luxury sports utility vehicle "Genesis" being the first model to roll off the assembly line.

Hyundai plans to invest 1.5 trillion won (around $1.5 billion) in the construction of this 548,000-square-meter facility, situated at the site of the former racetrack within Hyundai's Ulsan industrial complex, which has an annual production capacity of 1.4 million cars.

The ceremony for the new electric car factory in South Korea is one of the largest requests made by the labor union and city officials to Hyundai.

Hyundai's CEO, Chung Eui-sun, emphasized the importance of Ulsan, stating, "Ulsan witnessed the launch of the automobile industry in South Korea when the country was recovering from the effects of the war. Smart mobility technology at the electric vehicle-dedicated plant will make the work environment more efficient and safe."

In addition to the South Korean facility, Hyundai is also constructing an electric vehicle factory in the US state of Georgia.

Hyundai Motor Group, which controls the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands, plans to increase annual electric vehicle production in South Korea to 1.51 million cars by the end of this decade, accounting for approximately 40% of the estimated global production of electric vehicles, totaling around 3.64 million cars.