Hyundai will inaugurate a $5.54 billion (about Rs. 45,500 crore) electric vehicle and battery plant in the United States on Tuesday as South Korea’s biggest automaker grapples with an uncertain outlook for its sales of electric vehicles in its main market. Hyundai plans to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025 at the massive factory in Bryan County, west of Savannah, which will have an annual capacity of 300,000 units.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, and his two US Senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, plan to attend the event. Kemp and Warnock are re-elected next month.
Hyundai’s inauguration comes amid Korean and European Union anger over US electric vehicle tax policy.
The Cut Inflation Act signed by US President Joe Biden in August requires electric vehicles to be assembled in North America in order to qualify for US tax credits. Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia as well as major European automakers have been excluded from subsidies for electric vehicles because they do not yet manufacture the vehicles there.
The law made around 70% of electric vehicles immediately ineligible for tax credits of up to $7,500 (around Rs 6.2 lakh) per vehicle.
Sales of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 crossover SUV in the United States fell about 14% in September from the previous month, hit by the new American law.
Concerns over Hyundai’s electric vehicle sales in the United States under the new regulations were cited by analysts when the company reported its quarterly results on Monday and also contributed to its stock plunge.
Biden has expressed willingness to continue discussions with South Korea on recent US legislation that denies subsidies to most foreign electric vehicle makers, South Korea said earlier this month.
Biden gave the assurance in a letter to South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who had asked the US president for help last month to allay Seoul’s fears that new US rules would hurt South Korean automakers. .
Following the August law, only about 20 electric vehicles are eligible for subsidies under the new rules, including models from Ford and BMW.
Tech
