Actually, the “metaplant” that the South Korean car company Hyundai Motor completed in the US state of Georgia in October is exactly to Donald Trump’s taste. The third largest car manufacturer in the world wants to produce up to 500,000 cars near Savannah and create around 40,000 jobs. The only catch is: Hyundai wants to build electric cars in the new factory, starting with the Ioniq 5 model and continuing with the Ioniq 9. Battery production in collaboration with the also Korean manufacturer LG Energy Solution is also planned at the site. Hyundai is also involved its subsidiary Kia is the second most popular electric car brand in the United States after Tesla and has prepared for continued growing demand for its electric vehicles. But the new president is known to think little of climate protection and could soon cut subsidies for electric cars in the Koreans’ most important sales market. Chief Financial Officer Lee Seung-jo named a policy change in the United States as one of the biggest risks for the current financial year when he explained the 2024 annual figures to investors on Thursday. “The global auto industry will face greater uncertainty under the Trump administration this year,” he said. Shortly after Trump’s re-election, the company appointed the American José Muñoz as its new CEO, whose main task will be to keep its American business stable. Overall, Hyundai expects its sales to only grow by three to four percent this year , after almost eight percent last year. The group had to accept severe losses in profits in the final quarter of 2024, mainly because it had to spend more money on advertising and discounts for its vehicles. Operating profit fell by 17 percent. Hyundai even earned a third less from the car business than a year ago; However, the financing business went well. This division helped Hyundai post record full-year sales of 175.2 trillion won (117 billion euros) despite the headwinds. With 4.1 million cars sold, Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia are the third largest manufacturer in the world after Toyota and Volkswagen. Lee remains confident. Possible punitive tariffs from Trump on car imports have not yet been taken into account in the forecasts, said Lee. However, he pointed out that the company already produces 400,000 vehicles a year in a factory in Alabama. With the new factory in Georgia, Hyundai will be able to produce up to 80 percent of its sales in the United States in the country. The company has already converted the plant where pilot operations began in October so that hybrid vehicles or pure gasoline engines can also be built there if necessary. In principle, Lee was hopeful: If Trump really were to abolish the subsidies for electric cars, one would have to such a project also through Congress. “We don’t expect this to happen overnight and not this year,” said Lee, adding: “It could happen in September.” The CFO couldn’t resist making jibes at the competition. The import quotas of Japanese competitors Toyota and Honda in the United States are much higher for some of their most important models. In some cases, up to 100 percent of individual best-sellers are imported from Canada or Mexico. “We will be less affected by potential tariffs,” said Lee.More on the topicIn order to be more flexible in the American market, the company announced closer cooperation with General Motors. In September, Hyundai boss Euisun Chung and the GM CEO signed a corresponding declaration of intent. This will soon be followed by concrete agreements through which the two companies want to join forces, especially in the construction of electrified commercial vehicles and in the procurement of car parts. The stricter emissions standards of the European Union are also causing problems for the Koreans. Ultimately, demand for purely electric cars also fell there. The two Group brands sold 70,000 electric vehicles in Europe last year, it was said during the analyst conference. This number is to be doubled this year in order to meet the new emissions regulations.
Go to source