Hyundai to build new Elantra in U.S.

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Hyundai to build new Elantra in U.S.

The Detroit News

Hyundai Motor Co. will produce the all-new Hyundai Elantra at its Montgomery, Ala., plant, alongside the new Sonata.

The 2011 Elantra compact will make its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November and will go on sale early next year.

With the decision to shift production of the Elantra to Alabama from Ulsan, South Korea, Hyundai will be turning out more than half of its U.S. sales volume in the United States.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100920/AUTO01/9200407/1148/auto01/Hyundai-to-build-new-Elantra-in-U.S.#ixzz106Ym9xSo

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

HYUNDAI TO PRODUCE '11 ELANTRA IN U.S. ALONGSIDE SONATA

By Mark Kleis

Today Hyundai confirmed an earlier rumor that the next all-new Elantra will be built in the U.S. alongside the Sonata sedan at the manufacturing plant in Montgomery, Alabama.

Production for the 2011 Elantra will begin this fall, and will take place in the same facility as the hot-selling Sonata. The Elantra will then hit the market in early 2011, following the first public debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

Hyundai says that once the Elantra enters U.S.-based production it will only boost the Korean automaker's U.S.-based production, which is already over half of its production.

"Hyundai’s philosophy is to build our vehicles where we sell them, and with the addition of the Elantra to our U.S. production mix we now manufacture our three most popular models right here in the U.S.," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America.

Dating back to its opening in May of 2005, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) plant has produced over 1.2 million vehicles.

link:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/hyundai-to-produce-11-elantra-in-u-s-alongside-sonata.html

[regfootball]

wow, this changes the game. its the equivalent to the Koreans stuffing a nutsack in the face of the Detroit mfr's as the UAW / rust belt folks.

The Sonata was pricey enough to make up being made in the US (plus lots of southern state government incentives).

Hyundai could build these things on Korean soil and probably make more coin. This is ballsy. Perhaps their production capacity for the rest of the world is maxxed out and they need to build em here.

All manufacturers will need to learn how to build just about any of their cars, anywhere, eventually. Hyundai really has been pressing their balls in the face of its competition lately.

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Hyundai moving Elantra production to Alabama

by Jeff Glucker (RSS feed) on Sep 20th 2010 at 4:31PM

Hyundai is getting ready to launch its redesigned Elantra here in the United States. Not only will it sell that car here, it will also be built here as well. Slated to join its Sonata and Sante Fe siblings, the 2011 Hyundai Elantra will be built at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama facility in Montgomery, Alabama.

Already on sale in South Korea, the redesigned Elantra will join a strong Hyundai lineup that aims to take a larger slice of the U.S. automotive vehicle sales pie. The design is attractive, the fuel-economy rating should be good, the interior will be feature packed and we expect the price to be just right.

According to CEO and President of Hyundai Motor America John Krafcik,

"Hyundai's philosophy is to build our vehicles where we sell them, and with the addition of the Elantra to our U.S. production mix we now manufacture our three most popular models right here in the U.S."

The North American-spec 2011 Hyundai Elantra is expected to make its North American debut at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show, and sales of the re-designed model are earmarked to begin early in 2011.

[source: Hyundai]

Show full PR text

Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama to begin Elantra production this fall

Hyundai's three most popular models (Elantra, Sonata, and Sante Fe) will now be built in the U.S.

MONTGOMERY, Ala., 9/20/10- An all-new Hyundai Elantra will join its larger sibling, the Sonata, in production at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) starting in late fall this year. This change, along with the recent move of the Santa Fe to a production facility in Georgia, will further increase Hyundai's overall U.S. production capacity, which was already producing over half of total U.S. sales volume.

"Hyundai's philosophy is to build our vehicles where we sell them, and with the addition of the Elantra to our U.S. production mix we now manufacture our three most popular models right here in the U.S.," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America.

The all-new 2011 Elantra sedan will make its public debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show this November, while sales are scheduled to begin early next year. The new Elantra shares the same game-changing recipe of distinctive design and class-leading fuel economy that has made the 2011 Sonata the most shopped vehicle in the entire industry the last four months (source: Compete), and the 6th best-selling vehicle in the industry in August.

Sonata is the best-selling vehicle in Hyundai's U.S. lineup, with sales of 128,484 though the end of August, a 50% increase over the same period last year. Elantra sales through the same period of 90,960 are up 21% over the same period last year.

HMMA has consistently ranked as one of the highest quality plants in Hyundai's worldwide operations and is an outstanding example of Hyundai's focused commitment to quality. This year Sonata was again ranked in the top-three in quality by the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study in the competitive mid-size sedan category. The HMMA-built Sonata was also recently awarded Auto Pacific's first-ever President's Award in recognition of its record-setting consumer performance in 48 categories ranging from the basics of comfort and convenience, to performance and environmental friendliness.

More than 1,200,000 vehicles have rolled off the HMMA assembly line since production began on May 20, 2005.

"We're thrilled to be adding another pillar of the Hyundai lineup to our production mix here at HMMA," said Ashley Frye, director of production, HMMA. "We've been extremely proud to build both Sonata and Santa Fe on our assembly line, both of which have been hugely successful models for Hyundai in the U.S. and we hope to carry that momentum with us as we embark on the new 2011 Elantra."

link:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/20/hyundai-moving-elantra-production-to-alabama/