Hyundai breaks ground for new EV-dedicated plant in South Korea

The Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) is strengthening its push for electrification with the groundbreaking of an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing plant in its home country of South Korea.

Located within the Hyundai Motor complex in Ulsan, South Korea, where the Korean automaker’s founder first established the company’s first major manufacturing base more than 50 years ago, the new EV-dedicated manufacturing plant will lay the foundation for future growth in the era of electrification.

To be built on a land area of 548,000 sqm, the new facility will be South Korea’s first new automotive manufacturing plant in 29 years, following the establishment of Hyundai’s Asan manufacturing plant in 1996. It will have the capacity to produce 200,000 EVs per year. Approximately KRW 2-trillion or US$ 1.53-billion is being invested in the project with mass EV production expected to begin by the first quarter of 2026.

“The new EV-dedicated Plant in Ulsan is the beginning of a promising future for the next 50 years and the era of electrification. I am honored to share our dream of a 100-year company here,” said Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung. “Just as the dream of building the best car in the past made Ulsan an automotive city today, I trust Ulsan will be an innovative mobility city that leads the way in the era of electrification, starting with a dedicated EV plant.” 

The new EV plant in Ulsan builds on the vision of Hyundai Motor’s late Founding Chairman Ju-yung Chung, who believed the car industry would become the cornerstone of the Korean economy and underpin the country’s industrial development. More than half a century ago, he chose Ulsan as the location to help to create a better outlook and realize Korea’s mobility dreams. Now, the new EV plant will build on that legacy with a global impact.

Mass production of Hyundai’s first unique model, the Pony, began in 1975 at the Ulsan plant, less than a decade after the facility was established as an assembly plant for the Korean automaker’s vehicles at that time. Today, the facility is the single largest automotive manufacturing plant in the world.

Hyundai plans to apply an innovative manufacturing platform that was developed by the recently inaugurated Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICS) which currently already manufactures the IONIQ 5 EV, at its dedicated EV plant in Ulsan to future-proof the facility and prioritize employee safety, convenience and efficiency.

READ: Hyundai opens Innovation Center in Singapore

HMGICS’ manufacturing innovation platform includes demand-driven, AI-based intelligent control systems, eco-friendly and low-carbon construction methods to achieve carbon neutrality, RE100 certification (100 percent renewable energy use); and human-friendly facilities that enable safe, efficient working.

The first model to be produced at the new Hyundai EV-dedicated manufacturing plant in Ulsan will be a new electric SUV from Genesis, Hyundai Motor Group’s luxury vehicle division.

“The Ulsan Plant is the world’s largest single plant, established in 1968 with the grand dream of providing the world’s best automobile,” said Sung-won Jee, Head of Brand Marketing Division at the Hyundai Motor Company. “Through this groundbreaking ceremony, we aim to trace our journey with the Ulsan Plant, which was built by tens of thousands of individuals who have propelled us to today’s achievements. They are also at the heart of our expedition into the electrifying era of electric vehicles.”

“Through the new EV-dedicated plant in Ulsan, we will strive to advance our mobility solutions for everyone by leading the paradigm of future automobile production,” Jee added.