Hyundai Motor Group, a South Korea-based automotive company, has announced plans to invest $200m (Won253bn) to expand its operation to add more electric vehicle production elements to its facility in West Point, a city in the US state of Georgia. The investment is being carried out through its US-based subsidiary, Kia Georgia. The expansion will create 200 new jobs, and the production of the EV9 three-row SUV is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024.
In a statement on the company website, Sean Yoon, president and CEO, Kia North America and Kia America, said: “Like Telluride, EV9 has the potential to be another ‘game changer’ for Kia. This will be the most sophisticated vehicle that we have ever built and will be a standout in the EV market and on the road. Best of all, it will be assembled in West Point, Georgia.”
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Hyundai has more than 70,000 employees worldwide, working on brands such as Accent, Azera, Creta, Elantra, i20, i40, Kona, Sonata, Tucson, Veloster and Venue. The company has operations on all major continents and manufacturing facilities in a number of countries including Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, India, Russia and Turkey.
West Point has an official population of around 4,000, although it forms part of the Columbus ‘city-county’, which has a population of more than 300,000. Kia started operating in West Point in 2009, and since 2011 it has been manufacturing the Telluride, Sorento and K5 models.
