Hyundai Motor Group has completed the construction of a major production base in the United States—one of the most competitive markets for global automakers—and established a local production capacity of 1 million units. The new plant incorporates advanced automation and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and operates as a software-defined factory (SDF), utilizing data from the entire production process to maximize manufacturing efficiency.
On Wednesday, Hyundai Motor Group held a completion ceremony for its third U.S. production facility, Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), in Ellabell, Georgia. Key Hyundai executives in attendance included Chairman Chung Eui Sun, Vice Chairman Jang Jae Hoon, Hyundai Motor President José Muñoz, and Kia President Song Ho Sung. Local dignitaries attending the event included Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, U.S. Congressman Buddy Carter, Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera Izquierdo, and South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Cho Hyun Dong.
In his welcome remarks, Chairman Chung said it was a great honor to visit the White House two days earlier to announce a new, larger investment with President Trump and his team. He emphasized that Hyundai Motor Group is not just investing in technology and automobiles but, above all, in relationships. “We are not here just to build a factory but to take root,” he said.
Previously, Hyundai Motor Group decided to build a smart factory in Georgia with an annual capacity of 300,000 units, following its Hyundai plant in Alabama and Kia plant in Georgia. Construction began in October 2022 on a 3.55-million-square-meter site—equivalent to four times the size of Yeouido in Seoul. With the completion of HMGMA, the group’s total U.S. production capacity now reaches 1 million units. It also plans to expand facilities to add 200,000 units, ultimately reaching 1.2 million units annually. HMGMA began production of the IONIQ 5 in October 2024 and started mass production of the IONIQ 9 this March. Kia models are scheduled to begin production next year, with Genesis vehicles to be added to the lineup in the future.
HMGMA integrates cutting-edge manufacturing technologies developed and tested at Hyundai Motor Group’s Singapore Global Innovation Center (HMGICS). The plant manages quality using data collected from automated inspection systems, and AI analyzes big data from the production line to detect anomalies in advance. Tasks involving heavy loads or high-risk processes and inspections that were previously done manually are now handled by advanced robots. According to Hyundai Motor Group, HMGMA is the first in the world to automate heavy vehicle door installation using robotics fully. Its robot-assisted vision system analyzes paint quality using 50,000 images per vehicle—detecting defects invisible to the naked eye.
