At the Hyundai Metaplant, manufacturing grows to three models — and counting
ELLABELL ― The roads around Hyundai Motor Group’s sprawling Metaplant campus west of Savannah bear the names of the South Korean automaker’s brands: Hyundai, Kia and Genesis.
Models bearing two of those nameplates are now being manufactured inside the factory.
Kia recently began production of a hybrid SUV, the Sportage, marking U.S. manufacturing of the hybrid version of the model for the first time. Hybrid Sportages were previously made exclusively in Asia.
“We want to produce where we sell,” said SeungKyu Yoon, president of Kia North America.
The launch expands the Georgia factory’s portfolio beyond two electric vehicle models. The plant opened in October 2024, making the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Manufacturing of a second EV, the Hyundai Ioniq 9, began last year.
Hyundai’s long-term plans remain to manufacture a mix of 10 or more electric and hybrid-powered models at the Metaplant along I-16 in Bryan County. The factory’s chief manufacturing officer, Chris Susock, did not disclose details about the next models to be made at the nearly 3,000-acre facility, saying only that the factory is flexible enough to respond to market demand.
“We are designed to switch on a dime,” Susock said.
Susock did note that the site’s long-range manufacturing target of 500,000 vehicles per year has increased to 580,000.
Currently, the factory operates with just one shift, although a second shift is expected to begin this fall. Plans call for a third shift and around-the-clock operations by 2028.
The Hyundai Metaplant is the largest economic development project in state history.
Kia introduced the Georgia-made Sportage hybrid Tuesday in a curtain-raising ceremony staged on the factory floor. News leaked earlier this year that the Sportage hybrid would be made at the Metaplant.
The first finished Sportage rolled on the stage as part of the show, with Gov. Brian Kemp behind the wheel and his wife, Marty, riding shotgun.
“That’s a great way to make an entrance,” Brian Kemp said.
Hyundai has pledged to make Genesis models at the Georgia site as well.
The Kia Sportage hybrid is assembled alongside the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 on one of the factory’s two assembly lines. The other is dedicated solely to the Ioniq 5, Hyundai’s top-selling EV.
The Sportage launch required the addition of a second weld line. Equipment, including hundreds of robots, was installed in December and went online last month.
Kia operates its own Georgia factory in West Point, where the automaker manufactures gas-powered Sportages along with four other models. That plant opened in 2009.
About the Author
Adam Van Brimmer is a journalist who covers politics and Coastal Georgia news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
