Hyundai Motor commits US$21bil investment in United States

LOS ANGELES: Hyundai Motor Group has announced a significant investment of US$21bil (RM93.2bil) in the United States from 2025 to 2028.

In a statement, the group said this commitment reflected its strategic focus on expanding its manufacturing capabilities, advancing future technologies, and enhancing energy infrastructure in the United States.

The group would invest US$9bil (RM40bil) to establish an annual production capacity in the United States of 1.2 million vehicles across its automotive brands, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Genesis.

In addition, the group plans to invest in improving its production facilities, including Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama and Kia Autoland Georgia.

A total of US$6bil (RM26.6bil) would  be allocated to increase the localisation rate of automotive parts – including core parts for electric vehicles (EVs), such as battery packs.

Hyundai Steel, the group's steel affiliate, would build an electric arc furnace steel mill in the state of Louisiana, capable of producing 2.7 million tons of steel annually.

This facility would produce low-carbon steel sheets using the abundant supply of steel scrap in the United States.

The group would invest US$6bil to drive innovation and expand strategic partnerships with United States companies in areas including autonomous driving, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced air mobility (AAM).

Key initiatives included:

> Collaborating with Boston Dynamics to expand the ecosystem for robotics components and establish a mass-production system
>  Partnering with NVIDIA to accelerate the development of AI solutions for future mobility, including autonomous driving and robotics
>  Advancing R&D with Supernal, the Group's US affiliate for AAM business, to commercialize an eVTOL vehicle by 2028
>  Supplying robotaxis to Waymo as part of its strategic partnership with Hyundai Motor Company, and co-developing autonomous driving services with Aptiv
>  Investing potential startups through venture capital and other funding mechanisms to support United States startups specializing in mobility, robotics, and AI