South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company is considering bringing forward the starting date for a planned factory to make electric vehicles (EVs) and batteries in the US, Yonhap news agency reported.
Hyundai said in May it would break ground on a new facility in Georgia in 2023 but the new US law that excludes EVs assembled outside North America from benefitting from tax credits may push the company to start the work on the plant this year, the report said.
The factory initially planned to start commercial production in the first half of 2025, with an annual capacity of 300,000 units.
But the company is now considering starting construction later this year in order to begin commercial production in the second half of 2024, Yonhap reported, citing an unidentified auto industry source.
Hyundai Motor was not immediately available for comment.
US President Joe Biden signed a $430-billion bill into law last week, which ends tax credits for about 70% of the 72 EV models that were previously eligible.
As a result, EVs sold by Hyundai Motor, Kia Corp, Toyota and others are no longer eligible for tax credits.
South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin expressed concerns over the new US law during a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, according to a foreign ministry official.
South Korea will review whether to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization over the US Inflation Reduction Act, citing concern that the law could violate WTO rules and a bilateral free-trade deal between South Korea and the United States, Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang told a parliamentary session.
The country’s Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun plans to discuss the matter with US officials next week during his trip to Washington, Lee said on Monday.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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