Key points
▶ At a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, on October 16 (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump said Hyundai Motor Group had announced a $560 million investment to expand its plant in West Point, Georgia.
▶ The investor is Hyundai Transys, Hyundai Motor Group’s auto-parts affiliate. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp had already announced the investment in a press release on October 8.
▶ The plan calls for modernizing the existing West Point Plants 1 and 2 and building a new Plant 3 to increase production of electrified powertrains for hybrid vehicles. The project will create 320 jobs.
U.S. President Donald Trump brought up Hyundai at a campaign rally. Speaking at a midterm election rally in Dalton, Georgia, on October 16 (local time), he said Hyundai Motor Group had just announced a $560 million investment—about 748.6 billion won—to expand its plant in West Point, Georgia.
He cited the investment as an example of a foreign company investing in the United States and described it as evidence that the country was “doing so well under Republican leadership,” touting it as an achievement of his second term.
The investment Trump referred to is a project by Hyundai Transys, Hyundai Motor Group’s auto-parts affiliate. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp had announced the project in a press release on October 8.
Building another plant for hybrid components
According to Governor Kemp’s announcement, Hyundai Transys will invest about $560 million to modernize equipment at its existing Plants 1 and 2 in West Point and build a third plant.
The facility will produce electrified powertrains for hybrid vehicles—transmission-system components that deliver power from the engine and electric motor to the wheels. The project will create 320 jobs in administrative, management and production roles.
West Point is a small city near the Georgia-Alabama border. Kia’s Georgia plant is located there, and Hyundai Transys’ facility is nearby on Kia Parkway. Hyundai Transys currently employs about 1,250 people in West Point.
Choi Jae-gyun, head of Hyundai Transys’ Georgia Powertrain division, called the investment an important milestone in the company’s long-term partnership with Georgia, noting that the relationship has lasted nearly 20 years. Governor Kemp said the investment would help expand Hyundai and Kia’s production capacity. The announcement did not specify a completion date or the amount of state incentives.
Founded in 1994, Hyundai Transys specializes in powertrains and seats. It has 11,185 employees across 32 business locations in 10 countries and ranked 27th among the world’s auto-parts suppliers by 2025 revenue, according to Automotive News.
Tied to U.S. production of the Tucson Hybrid
On September 30, Hyundai Motor announced that it would invest $500 million—about 676.7 billion won—in its Montgomery, Alabama, plant to begin producing the Tucson Hybrid locally.
All Tucson Hybrid vehicles are currently built at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant and exported to the United States. The Alabama facility currently makes only the gasoline-powered Tucson. Hyundai Motor President José Muñoz said the company would also produce the Santa Fe and a range-extended electric vehicle (EREV) version of the Santa Fe in the United States, along with the engines and powertrains used in those vehicles.
Even when finished vehicles are assembled in the United States, tariffs apply if key components are imported from South Korea. Producing engines and transmissions in the United States is necessary to reduce the tariff burden and make costs competitive. Hyundai Transys’ new West Point plant is set to supply the transmission-system components.
Demand is shifting toward hybrids. Hyundai Motor’s U.S. hybrid sales in September rose 33% from the same month a year earlier, reaching a record 29% of the company’s total sales. From January through August this year, Tucson sales in the United States totaled 158,523, up 7.3%.
Last year, Hyundai Motor Group announced plans to invest $26 billion—about 35 trillion won—in the United States by 2028. The plans include expanding production capacity, building a steel mill in Louisiana and establishing a robotics plant.
With the November 3 midterm elections approaching, President Trump has been presenting foreign companies’ U.S. investments as an achievement of the Republican Party. Georgia is a battleground state where the winner changed between the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections.
Kia’s Georgia plant, Hyundai Motor’s Savannah-area Metaplant and battery plants operated by LG Energy Solution and SK On are located in the state, making investment by South Korean companies directly relevant to local employment.