Hyundai, LG to spend $2 bln more on Georgia battery plant (updated)

Hyundai Mobis

31/08/2023 23:04

(Adds detail throughout on Hyundai, LG investment, background
on other investments)
    By David Shepardson
       Aug 31 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor Group  005380.KS  and
LG Energy Solution  373220.KS  will boost their joint investment
in a Georgia battery manufacturing plant by $2 billion and add
400 additional jobs, the companies and the state said Thursday.
    The facility, a joint venture between the two companies, now
includes a total investment of $4.3 billion and eventually will
be able to produce about 300,000 electric vehicle batteries
annually, the companies said.
    Hyundai, the world's third-largest automaker by vehicle
sales, said the two companies now plan to spend a total of $7.59
billion and create 8,500 new jobs over eight years in Bryan
County, Georgia.
        That figure includes the battery plant, which has an
annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt hours (GWh), as well
as a separate electrical-vehicle manufacturing plant.  
    The auto manufacturing plant is scheduled to begin producing
vehicles in January 2025 and will build 300,000 vehicles
annually.
        The two manufacturing facilities, known collectively as
the "Metaplant," have been incentivized by $7,500 consumer tax
credits in the 2022 U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which require
electric vehicles to be manufactured in the United States and
sets new sourcing requirements for critical minerals and battery
components.
  
        The law also includes hefty U.S. battery production tax
credits.
  
        Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis  012330.KS  will assemble
battery packs using cells from the plant, then supply them to
Hyundai Motor manufacturing facilities in the United States for
production of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis electric vehicles.
        Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said the state has attracted
multiple suppliers to support the facility.
        Last year, Hyundai global chief operating officer Jose
Munoz said the Georgia plant could eventually produce 500,000
vehicles annually, if demand warrants.
        Hyundai Motor in April said it had finalized a separate
$5 billion electric vehicle battery joint venture in the U.S.
with partner SK On, a battery unit of SK Innovation Co
 096770.KS .

 (Reporting by David Shepardson
Editing by Chris Reese and Andy Sullivan)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))