Marco Carvajal

The New Hyundai Metaplant in Georgia

Written by Marco Carvajal

Last week I traveled from Florida to Savannah, Georgia to learn the exciting news about how Hyundai Motor Group is building its largest and most modern electrified car manufacturing plant in the United States, the modern metaplant is expected to be ready to make cars by the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025.

With this new production facility, Hyundai will produce a diverse range of innovative Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia electric vehicles (EVs), and also will build the most important component of electric cars, the battery, in a joint venture with LGES, LG Energy Solution.

Some of the vehicles that are expected to be built locally in Georgia here in the United States are Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis electric vehicles, including models like the IONIQ 5, IONIQ 6, GV60, and Electrified GV70, and the hydrogen-powered XCIENT Fuel Cell Truck, which is going to be used for logistics needs between Hyundai’s manufacturing facilities and suppliers around the metaplant.

This new car manufacturing plant will be open to the Public, offering tours to see the new facility free of charge, stay tuned on how to schedule your tour to visit the new plant.

The new plant site, Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, LLC (HMGMA), is located at 10484 US Highway 280, Ellabell, GA 31308, just about 40 minutes drive from Savannah, Georgia.

This can be a fun getaway to visit the historic city of Savannah, and to tour Hyundai’s new metaplant.

Double M Plant, Meta and Mega

I call the new Hyundai car manufacturing plant, the double M, because it is Mega and it is Meta too. Mega because of its huge size with a site of about 3,000 acres, and Meta because of its electrification and technological advance trend.

When naming this new plant, Hyundai could have used words like factory, or assembly plant, however, the automobile manufacturer decided to call it Metaplant. The prefix “meta” can mean transformation or transcending, and the Hyundai Metaplant will transform the idea we have of an automotive manufacturing plant, focusing on electrification, social impact, employee motivation, and being eco-friendly.

The official name of the new car factory in Bryan County, Georgia, is Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA).

It is a Mega Plant or a Mega Factory, however, you want to call it, this is Hyundai Motor Group’s largest plant in the United States.

Social Impact with millions of dollars for the community

The new plant is one of the new exciting projects supported from the beginning of its creation by Hyundai’s José Muñoz, President and Global Chief Operating Officer for Hyundai Motor Company and also President and CEO for Hyundai, and Genesis Motor North America.

Jose Muñoz is transforming and enhancing the company, and one of the guidelines that CEO Muñoz has given to his company is to give back to the community and to invest in the well-being of children, education, and the environment. “Georgia is like a second home to us,” said Jose Muñoz.

Hyundai’s future global goals towards electrification, safety, quality, and sustainability include becoming the world’s leading mobility solutions provider, and this implies social responsibility, producing a real positive impact in the community. In this case, the community of Georgia will be the beneficiary of the group’s generous policy.

I had an extended conversation and interesting questions answered by Joe LaMuraglia, Communications, and PR Manager for Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, LLC (HMGMA), who showed me the new metaplant and also talked to me about all the benefits that Georgia will receive from the new venture, including donations to charity organizations with tons of social impact, educational programs with high schools and colleges, training for new employees, more than 8,000 new jobs for the area, join ventures and third party suppliers that will help the local economy to grow and eventually changing the local culture as the area will become the homeland of thousands of newly Hyundai, Kia and Genesis cars.

Brandon Ramirez, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility and External Relations, at Hyundai Motor America, showed me how Hyundai has a huge focus on building a bridge between the new plant and the community in Georgia.

While the new Metaplant will mean more production, tax incentives, and better logistics for Hyundai Motor Group, the company doesn’t want to lose focus on giving back to the community.

Ramirez mentioned how investing in the community is very important for Hyundai and even if the plant is not finished yet, Hyundai already started to help through Hyundai Hope, Hyundai Hope On Wheels, Genesis Gives, Genesis Inspiration Foundation and Kia Accelerate the Good donated so far more than one and half million dollars to a variety of charity initiatives in Georgia.

Some of the recent beneficiaries of Hyundai Motor America’s good hand are The Salvation Army of Savannah, Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club, Bulloch County Boys & Girls Club, and Coastal Empire Habitat for Humanity.

Hyundai Motor America also provided STEM scholarships to Georgia Southern University. Hyundai Hydrogen STEM Program has come to action in Bryan County and Effingham County, which are very near the new Metaplant. With this program middle school students learn about hydrogen, then they can build their own hydrogen vehicles and race them on a Hyundai track.

Hyundai has already invested more than one million dollars in different organizations in Georgia, near Bryan County and near Savannah, not far from the new plant, and the plan is to keep helping with their social responsibility goal.

We also spoke with Vanessa Perez, and Ciara Calub from HMNA, Hyundai Motor North America, who gave me interesting feedback on the benefits and cultural influences that the new plant will bring to the area. There will be more programs to help the community, especially for students and children.

Hyundai is establishing a higher new EV production presence in the U.S.

With the new MetaPlant, Hyundai is establishing a higher EV production presence in the U.S. The new Hyundai huge facility Metaplant, is targeting production starting end of this year 2024 into 2025 with an annual capacity of 300,000 cars, which can be expanded to almost double if the market requires it.

The billionaire investment into this Georgia production facility is part of Hyundai’s pledged $10 billion investment into the U.S. mobility market.

Besides Hyundai’s billionaire investment, approximately $1 billion is anticipated to be invested by non-affiliated, HMGMA suppliers in connection with the project in other locations

While such a significant investment into U.S. facilities is excellent news for many new workers at the new facility, the investment wasn’t so welcomed in Hyundai’s homeland, South Korea. More production in the United States means less production in other countries like Korea.

It seems that Hyundais is slowly becoming more and more Americanized, with Headquarters in California and two large plants in Alabama and Georgia, the group keeps steeping deeper into the American dream.

Hyundai plans to lead the EV market not just in sales, but also in terms of design, technologies, EV and battery production capabilities, and mobility solutions optimized for the upcoming electric mobility era.

Hyundai wants to evolve beyond an automaker into the world’s leading mobility solutions provider. The new Metaplant is consolidating Hyundai Motor Group as one of the leaders in the U.S. auto market’s EV transition, and maintaining its position as one of the top three EV providers in the U.S

The Group’s electrification goal has a very high global target to sell 3.23 million fully electric vehicles annually in the next few years.

Meta Pro Employees

The modernized approach of the Meta Plant will influence its employees too, called by Hyundai Motor Group as Meta Pros. The opening of thousands of jobs will benefit the economy and the culture of Georgia, with new careers, new jobs, and an ecological approach towards electrification and car production.

Hyundai’s Metaplant is expected to employ more than eight thousand people from Bryan County, Georgia, and from the city of Savannah, Georgia.

Here you can apply for a Meta Pro on Hyundai’s Metaplant in Georgia

Partner companies who will work next to the Metaplant are also going to be a good source of employment for small businesses and independent contractors.

Electrical Vehicle Professional (EVP) Technical Certificate of Credit (TCC)

An amazing initiative to help potential Meta Pro employees obtain a job and career from the new Hyundai Metaplans is a partnership with four technical colleges in the Savannah area that will train students in the EVP TCC. After graduation, these students will have the opportunity to be employed at the new Hyundai Metaplant, where they will receive higher wages and higher work positions.

This is a short 8-credit-hour certificate that includes 3 courses, Automotive Technology Introduction, Automotive Electrical Principles, and Introduction to EV/Hybrid Vehicles and Safety Protocols

The following are the four colleges offering the EVP and TCC programs:

Savannah Technical College, Savannah, and Liberty County Campuses

Southeastern Technical College, Vidalia Campus

Coastal Pines Technical College, Baxley and Waycross Campuses

Ogeechee Technical College

This practical certificate program has been designed to prepare students for entry-level employment in the electrified vehicle production industry, focusing on safe and effective automotive shop operations, automotive electrical principles, and the operation and service of electric vehicles.

Graduation under the EVP TCC program is a good first step in the path to a production career at this new electrified Metaplant and it also can help students to find other employment opportunities at related companies.

Alabama Plant and Georgia Plant working together

This is not the first plant that Hyundai Motor Group owns in the U.S. Hyundai’s first assembly and manufacturing plant in the United States was Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, LLC (HMMA), but the new plant in Bryan County, GA, the massive facility the Meta Plant is larger and smarter, and it is completely oriented towards electrified cars, electric batteries, and electric components for all new Hyundais Motor Group car brands.

The new MetaPlanta will cooperate with Hyundai’s previous facility in Montgomery, Alabama, which produces over 300,000 vehicles annually, this new facility will double Hyundai’s current vehicle output in the U.S.

Why Building a Plant in the U.S.?

Among many factors that probably influenced Hyundai to build this new electric plant, we can think of the recent Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) under the current Biden administration. The new act stipulates that EV vehicles must be domestically produced in the U.S. to qualify to receive federal incentives and these incentives are important financial and pricing factors that affect the decision of buying a car.

This law promoted local production by offering tax incentives that car manufacturers could transfer to the end-up consumer, the car buyer, offering a lower price and winning the competition.

This type of tax incentive will mean lower pricing, and more sales, but also producing cars locally in Georgia, this will help to lower transportation costs, and faster inventory into car dealers in the U.S., and not just cars, let’s talk about parts, batteries, and important electric car components that now will be available much faster as if they would have been produced in Mexico or Asia.