Hyundai Motor CEO José Muñoz told CNBC the company will boost Georgia plant capacity to 800,000 vehicles by 2028, part of a $26 billion U.S. investment plan.
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Hyundai Motor plans to increase production capacity at its Georgia assembly plant to as many as 800,000 vehicles a year by 2028, CEO José Muñoz told CNBC on Thursday.
The South Korean automaker initially targeted 500,000 units at the Metaplant America facility. The expansion, disclosed in an interview after the unveiling of the Genesis GV90 SUV, is part of a $26 billion investment Hyundai plans in the U.S. through 2028.
Muñoz said the company aims to produce at least 80% of the vehicles it sells in the U.S. domestically, up from roughly 40% in 2024. President Donald Trump's tariffs, including 15% on imports from South Korea, helped accelerate the timeline.
"Tariffs are helping accelerate our localization plan. That's very, very simple," Muñoz said. "The good thing is that we had already started before tariffs were announced. So in a way it's helping us to accelerate."
The plant currently produces the all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9. It also builds the Kia Sportage hybrid. The expanded capacity would make the facility the largest vehicle assembly operation by capacity in the U.S., surpassing plants run by Tesla and Toyota Motor.
"For us, the USA is the most important market in the world besides Korea, which is our headquarters," Muñoz said.
The current plan for 500,000 units includes more than 8,500 employees at the Georgia megasite and an additional 6,900 people at offsite suppliers. Muñoz did not provide a new headcount for the expanded capacity, though he said the company expects to employ thousands more.
Hyundai is also evaluating additional investment for body-on-frame vehicles such as trucks and SUVs, possibly outside the Georgia plant. Muñoz declined to give details. "We are always, always assessing the opportunities that we have in the market," he said.
Hyundai's U.S. sales have surged nearly 50% since 2020, according to company reports and Mobility Global. The automaker's market share rose to 11.2% last year from 8.4% in 2020.
The Metaplant was announced in 2022 and has since expanded its planned output multiple times.
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