Hyundai Motor Group said it plans to speed up its push into the North American market despite a string of headwinds, including high tariffs and the detention of electric vehicle plant workers. At its first overseas "CEO Investor Day" held in New York, Hyundai Motor unveiled its mid- to long-term strategy and stressed that it will make North America a core pillar of the group's business.
On the 19th (local time), Hyundai Motor held "CEO Investor Day" at The Shed in Manhattan, New York, and unveiled its mid- to long-term strategy for the North American market. The plan includes not only expanding U.S. investment and production, but also rolling out more specialized models and lineups and strengthening technology partnerships with local corporations.
President and CEO Jose Muñoz of Hyundai Motor said, "There will continue to be strong growth opportunities in the U.S. market," adding, "Rather than chasing a single goal, we plan to introduce a range of strategies with a focus on systematically improving profitability, and we are deploying and looking to apply in other markets the strategies that are working in the United States."
Hyundai Motor is eyeing North America not as a mere overseas base, but as its largest market. Of the 2.07 million vehicles Hyundai sold globally in the first half of this year, 610,000, or 30%, were sold in the United States. The share based on revenue is even higher at 38%, thanks to strong demand for high value-added models such as Genesis and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).
As the importance of the North American market grows, Hyundai Motor's investment scale continues to increase. Since entering the United States in 1986, Hyundai Motor has invested a total of $20.5 billion (about 29 trillion won) in the North American market, and from this year through 2028 it will pour in an additional $26 billion (about 36 trillion won). Key areas include building a steel mill, expanding production capacity, and establishing a robotics plant.
Hyundai Motor also plans to expand U.S. production, currently around 1 million vehicles a year, to as many as 1.2 million annually. In particular, Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) in Georgia, which began operations last year, will boost its annual production capacity from the current 300,000 to 500,000 by 2028.
It is also accelerating development of models popular in North America. Hyundai Motor plans to introduce a midsize pickup truck before 2030 to follow the Santa Cruz, a North America-only pickup launched in 2021. It also plans to step up its push into the commercial vehicle market, with key offerings to include the Xcient hydrogen electric truck, trailers, and an electric commercial van slated for local production in 2028.
It also decided to strengthen technology collaboration with U.S. corporations. Last month, Hyundai Motor said it would jointly develop four models with General Motors (GM) for the Latin American market—a midsize pickup, a small pickup, a small passenger car, and a small SUV—as well as an electric commercial van for North America. Once mass production of these vehicles gets underway, more than 800,000 units a year are expected to be produced and sold.
Cooperation is continuing in autonomous driving as well. Since October last year, Hyundai Motor has been working with U.S. autonomous driving company Waymo on the sixth-generation fully autonomous "Waymo Driver." The plan is to equip the Ioniq 5 produced at the Metaplant and deploy it on public roads, with on-road testing in the United States scheduled for the end of this year.
Hyundai Motor said it will pursue pricing policies in the United States flexibly, taking into account internal and external factors such as tariffs and competitors' strategies. Muñoz said, "Over the past few months, we have been monitoring the market and customers, and we have launched and delivered vehicles at prices customers can afford," adding, "We are also improving competitive lease offerings and other sales financing."