President Trump’s wave of tariffs have played a role in causing a considerable amount of confusion as the U.S. squares off against Mexico, Canada, and China in a trade war to try and get a new trade deal between the three countries. Some of this confusion has come at the expense of automakers with all of them watching the situation for new developments.
Hyundai is choosing to take a path to avoid any future tariff issues by investing $20 billion into its U.S. operations as the Korean car giant prepares to enhance its presence in the U.S. with elements of the broader investment being used to improve the company’s operations including production.
Steel plant part of Hyundai investment
As mentioned, the $20 billion investment is split into several parts with $5.8 billion of the funds being used to construct a new steel plant in Louisiana. While the art of steel production might seem like a minor detail, Hyundai has been taking it very seriously with existing plants in Korea already being used to build the next generation of its steel technology. Look for this plant to follow suit in this regard with the added benefit of avoiding tariffs on raw materials like steel.
This next-generation steel is already being used to produce EVs and look for the steel from this plant to also be used in EV models like the facelifted Ioniq 5. An additional $9 billion will go towards boosting vehicle production with Hyundai confirming recently that it intends to build five other EVs with the total being spread out through all three of its vehicle brands (Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis.) Hybrids are also part of the plan and the Korean car giant is aiming to leverage the presence it already has in this slice of the vehicle market to try and adjust to slumping EV demand across the whole sector.
“This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” Trump said at The White House today as the Hyundai deal was unveiled. “And I hope other things also, but the tariffs are bringing them in at levels that have not been witnessed,” The Hill reports him telling journalists.
Jobs form the backbone of this plan
When the investment is viewed by the sum of its parts, Hyundai says that it will help add more jobs in the U.S. with the company saying that it will bring 15,000 jobs to the country though a separate estimate from Bloomberg suggests it will be slightly lower at 14,000 new jobs. In addition to the boosted production and jobs, Hyundai is also embarking on several collaborations and partnerships in the U.S. to further boost its presence.
A notable one is a budding partnership with General Motors. While this particular partnership is still shrouded in secrecy, reports suggests that products will be partly involved with Hyundai possibly getting a rebadged version of the Chevrolet Colorado in exchange for the company giving GM two BEV van models for market in the commercial sector. These partnerships will also add more jobs but it remains to be seen if they will fully mature into noticeable fruit. In the meantime, Hyundai will also focus on more immediate concerns with the company currently preparing to launch new models like the Ioniq 9 and a revamped version of the Hyundai Palisade.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.