Hyundai, Kia, Genesis Meta Factory Visit Shows They Are Prepared For The Future

I used to be invited lately to return to stunning Savannah, Georgia, to each tour the brand new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) and drive the new IONIQ 9a brand new giant and opulent SUV from Hyundai. Hyundai Motor Group means Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis (all of which have separate designers and advertising and marketing organizations). The three completely different manufacturers can use the manufacturing facility to construct their vehicles their to promote into the US market (and export if they want). It’s good timing that they opened the manufacturing facility at about the identical time Trump was elected, since we at the moment are seeing him enhance tariffs on many imported items, together with automobiles and auto components.

The state of affairs is sort of dynamic, however Hyundai Motor Group is glad to have three factories within the US. It constructed a manufacturing facility in Montgomery, Alabama, in 2005; a Kia plant in West Level, Georgia, began in 2006; and their latest manufacturing facility that this text is about is in Savannah, Georgia.

Notice: I wrote about the IONIQ 9 here.

This isn’t the best photograph, however I included it as a result of it reveals the huge scale of the most important auto manufacturing facility in America.

This reveals the aim of every constructing. The battery plant remains to be in building.

Large 65584 HMGMAGrandOpening scaled — Photograph credit score: Hyundai

Large 65598 HMGMAGrandOpening — Photograph credit score: Hyundai

Large 65601 HMGMAGrandOpening — Photograph credit score: Hyundai

IMG 4589 scaled — I used to be impressed with the automated blue automobile transports (look below the automobile physique) that each moved the vehicles from station to station and in addition delivered components to the road.

IMG 4592 scaled — Right here, a Boston Dynamics canine robotic is on either side of the car inspecting the physique for defects.

IMG 4597 scaled — Listed here are extra of these blue transports. They don’t want wires within the ground to information them like they used to a few years in the past (once I noticed that at an IBM manufacturing facility I labored at). They’ve QR codes printed on the ground at varied locations and so they learn these to find out the place they’re.

IMG 4599 scaled — They’ve the workstations and break areas very near the road, in order that they don’t need to stroll lengthy distances to get there, maximizing the time they get to take pleasure in their breaks.

Conclusion

The Hyundai Group appears to be nicely positioned to climate the dramatic adjustments within the US auto market. From a product standpoint, they’ve a broad vary of sedans, SUVs, and even a pickup. So, they aren’t depending on one or two kinds of automobiles just like the “Big Three” that dropped their sedans. They haven’t jumped from fuel automobiles to electrical automobiles, however try to supply clients their selection of fuel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or full electrical automobiles.

I do assume they might drop their non-hybrid fuel automobiles like BYD has carried out and Toyota is progressively doing, because the value premium for hybrids is minimal now. If we get a brand new administration in 2028 that’s professional electrical car, Hyundai has the trendy and environment friendly designs that it will possibly ramp up. If the US continues to stay hostile to electrical automobiles, it’s going to nonetheless develop, simply extra slowly. Hyundai wants nice electrical automobiles to be aggressive anyplace else on this planet, so I feel there’s little threat it’s going to abandon them.

Pivoting again to my manufacturing facility go to, the factor that made the most important impression on me was Hyundai Group’s concern for its workers and making a clear, secure, quiet, and satisfying place for them to work. I feel that can pay dividends for the corporate for years to return because it will get a popularity as a very good place to work within the native space.

Disclosure: I’m a shareholder in Tesla (TSLA), BYD (BYDDY), Nio (NIO), XPeng (XPEV), NextEra Power (NEP), and several other ARK ETFs. However I provide no funding recommendation of any kind right here.

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