Hyundai is already planning to have a second North American EV assembly plant, and an official of the South Korean automaker revealed that Canada will be a part of that conversation.
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Illustration shows Hyundai logo during the opening day of the 97th edition of the Brussels Motor Show, at Brussels Expo, on Friday 18 January 2019, in Brussels.
Hyundai Is Eyeing Canada for Second Assembly Plant
The Hyundai Motor Group is reportedly eyeing its second North American EV assembly even while its first is still under construction in Savannah, Georgia.
According to Electrek, Hyundai Auto Canada's CEO Don Romano revealed that Canada might be the next location for its upcoming facility. Romano told Automotive News Canada that Canada "is on the list for future growth" regarding Hyundai's second EV assembly plant in the region.
However, Romano noted that Hyundai would "obviously go" to a location where it sees the most promising future for electric vehicles. And Canada could be that place, given that the company currently builds the most vehicles in the region without a significant manufacturing facility.
According to Automotive News Research & Data Center, the Hyundai Motor Group, including Kia and Genesis, sold 186,566 vehicles in Canada last year.
These digits mean the company is currently in fourth place in total volume, ahead of Stellantis and Honda but behind companies like Ford, General Motors, and Toyota, which all manufactured vehicles in Canada.
Perfect Timing to Expand
By looking at these statistics of increasing Hyundai's sales, expanding its manufacturing facility to the region might be a good idea.
Adding to this is that Romano revealed that he had several conversations with the Canadian government regarding a potential deal in the future. However, he noted that these discussions run alongside the US and Mexican governments.
Electrek reported that Vice President of Global Vehicle Forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions Sam Fiorani noted that with these numbers and Canada's efforts to push for an EV future, the company needs to expand its North American assembly footprint by 2030, if not sooner.
Also Read: Hyundai to Also Adopt Tesla's NACS EV Chargers for Next-Gen Platform
Hyundai Georgia Facility
The Georgia facility of Hyundai broke ground last October on a $5.5 billion electric vehicle and battery plant. It is the company's first assembly plant in North America.
Hyundai said the October 25 groundbreaking for the company's "metaplant" in Savannah, Georgia was part of Hyundai's "commitment of $10 billion by 2025 to foster future mobility in the US, including production of EVs."
Reuters reported that the company plans to begin commercial production in the first half of 2025 with an annual capacity of 300,000 units. Hyundai reportedly aims to sell two million electric vehicles a year by 2030.
Auto 123 reported that although the Georgia facility is still under construction in Bryan County at the moment, this will not be able to produce enough vehicles to meet the company's North American targets, which is why the necessity for a second plant has been talked about for several months now.
While the company just dropped one of the biggest budgets it ever released for this facility, Hyundai is still willing to do it to reach its target.
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