The rug was pulled out from under Hyundai and its sibling brand Kia America just months after parent Hyundai Motor Co. confirmed it would invest $5.5 billion to build an EV and battery complex outside Savannah, Ga., for its Hyundai, Genesis and Kia brands.
The plant will have the capacity to produce up to 500,000 EVs a year and will bring 8,100 jobs to the state. But it will not be ready until January 2025, Muñoz said.
Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury division, has one EV that qualifies for the $7,500 credit: the Electrified GV70 crossover. Hyundai retooled part of its Montgomery, Ala., factory last summer so it could build the premium EV as well as the hybrid version of the Hyundai Santa Fe crossover.
The retooling announcement was made at the New York auto show in April 2022 and was fortunate timing considering the tax rule changes that would come later. The Electrified GV70 started production last month.
Muñoz has been candid about the company’s disappointment at being left out of tax credit eligibility, especially after making such a large commitment to US manufacturing, as well as its objective to convert half of all its US sales from gasoline to electric by 2030.
In California, the largest car market in the US, Hyundai has a more aggressive goal of hitting 100 percent EV sales by 2035.
“Basically, we need [to build] a lot of EVs here,” Munoz said.