Hyundai confirms dedicated US EV plant will make hybrids too

Hyundai will add production of hybrid models at its Georgia Metaplant scheduled to open later this year, CFO Lee Seung Jo said during a recent earnings call.

“We are investing in facilities to produce hybrid cars at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America,” Lee told the Korea Economic Daily and other media on the call, adding that Hyundai “to develop a system to apply hybrid (trims) to all models.”

Exactly how that planned expansion of hybrid trims will specifically apply to the U.S. is unclear, but Hyundai aims to increase global hybrid sales by 28% this year, to 480,000 units, notes the Korea Economic Daily.

That’s quite a turnaround, as Hyundai has specifically skipped several recent hybrids in the U.S.—including the Kona Hybrid—to allow more attention for its EVs. But reports several weeks ago, citing anonymous sources inside the company, said…