For their vehicles, Hyundai and Kia produce the engines. But there is some overlap between the two businesses. For instance, both Hyundai and Kia vehicle models use the Kappa G3LA/G3LC and Kappa G4LD engines.
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Expansion Creates 50 New Jobs in Alabama with a $388 million Investment in Capital
MONTGOMERY— Today, Governor Kay Ivey and President and CEO Dong Ryeol Choi of Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama LLC announced that Hyundai would invest $388 million to build an engine head manufacturing facility and upgrade current operations to enable the production of new Sonata and Elantra sedan models. 50 new employment will be produced by the investment.
The next-generation Hyundai engine, which will require new technology and components as part of its assembly process, is being prepared by Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA). The capital investment will be used to upgrade technologies in an existing engine plant and purchase equipment for a facility that will machine engine heads.
The expansion of Hyundai’s Montgomery production facility will fuel the Korean automaker’s quest for future growth in the United States, according to Governor Ivey. “Hyundai is an integral part of Alabama’s dynamic auto sector,” he added. The company’s confidence in its Alabama operation and in its highly skilled employees is clearly demonstrated by Hyundai’s large new investment.
Hyundai President and CEO Dong Ryeol Choi remarked at the announcement today, “With our most recent expansion, HMMA continues to show its strong commitment to the people of Montgomery and the people of Alabama.” To ensure the long-term success of our Alabama assembly facility, Hyundai is maintaining its tradition of investing in new production technologies.
The 260,000 square foot structure that will house the head machining equipment will be built for about $40 million. In November 2018, the engine head machining plant’s construction is expected to be finished. With the completion of this project, one of HMMA’s existing engine facilities will have more room to add engine assembly lines.
By the middle of 2019, the new engine head machining plant will be up and running. The Sonata, Elantra, and Santa Fe crossover utility vehicles all use engines made by HMMA. A total of 700,000 engines can be produced annually at HMMA’s two engine factories to help with car manufacturing at both HMMA and Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia in West Point, Georgia.
With 2,700 full-time and 500 part-time employees, HMMA is the largest private factory in the River Region and began producing vehicles in May 2005.
An independent manufacturing unit of the Hyundai Motor Company, established in Seoul, Korea, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. The 2018 Sonata, 2018 Elantra, and 2018 Santa Fe Sport CUVs are all now made by HMMA. Hyundai Motor America distributes Hyundai cars and sport utility vehicles throughout the country, and more than 900 Hyundai dealerships in North America sell and maintain Hyundai vehicles.
Is the brand Japanese?
No. The automaker Hyundai is not a Japanese one. Instead, this is a South Korean company with its roots in Seoul. That was said by Chung Ju-Yung back in 1947. Hyundai was a building company at the time. As a result, Hyundai Motor Company is actually Korean as opposed to Japanese.
Hyundai Motor Company is a global automobile manufacturer today. The corporate headquarters are still located in Seoul, South Korea. The company is well-known in the US. Popular vehicles like the Santa Fe and Tucson are advertised as being especially suitable for American families.
Korean Automotive Industry
Frequently referred to as Hyundai Motors, the Hyundai Motor Company (Korean: hyeondaejadongca; Hanja: Xian Dai Zi Dong Che ; RR: Hyeondae Jadongchalisten)
In Ulsan, South Korea, Hyundai runs the largest integrated auto manufacturing facility in the world, with a 1.6 million-unit production capacity per year. Around 75,000 employees work for the company internationally. Hyundai sells cars through 5,000 dealerships and showrooms in 193 different countries.
From obtaining engines from Mitsubishi to supplying them to Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai
We had lunch with Dr. Hyun-Soon Lee, President of the R&D and Corporate Product Planning and Strategy Divisions of Hyundai-Kia Motors, yesterday after testing the new rear-wheel-drive Genesis sedan at Hyundai’s cutting-edge research lab and test tracks in Namyang, Korea. Dr. Lee started working for Hyundai in 1984, long before the business began selling cars in the United States (the Hyundai Excel, that gem of a subcompact, debuted here in 1986).
The Genesis is a significant accomplishment for this carmaker, which was founded only forty years ago as a satellite assembly facility for Ford’s U.K. branch to assemble Ford Cortinas for the Korean market. Dr. Lee emphasized this when he emphasized the company’s history. Aside from those kit cars, Hyundai’s first vehicle was the 1975 Pony, which was in fact created by Giugiaro. Throughout the 1980s, Hyundai obtained licenses to produce vehicles using Mitsubishi’s designs. Hyundai didn’t create its own engines until the 1991 release of the Alpha four-cylinder. That engine, which is currently utilized in the Accent, was proudly created by Dr. Lee.
Since producing its first engine seventeen years ago, the business has progressed to producing a wide range of four- and six-cylinder passenger car engines as well as a brand-new, ultra-modern V-8, the Tau, which is an option for the new Genesis luxury sedan. “Dr. Lee recalls that all began in 1990 when Toyota introduced Lexus. Although we were only observers, we wondered, “Why couldn’t we do it, too?” Our daydream at the time appeared absurd, but thanks to perseverance and hard effort, it has become a reality. We had no technology prior to 1991, when we created our first engine, and were entirely dependent on Mitsubishi. We had a huge confidence boost thanks to The Alpha, and we are now capable of doing anything. We could construct a $2000 people’s automobile or a supercar with 600 horsepower. But the vehicle you drove today—the Genesis—is the one we have always wanted to make.”
The soft-spoken Dr. Lee spoke on Hyundai’s technological achievements and expansion while overseeing a magnificent lunch at Rolling Hills, Hyundai’s opulent new hotel close to its Namyang facilities. Hyundai now provides technology for the 2.0-liter and 2.4-liter Theta engines for both Mitsubishi and Chrysler, reversing the connection it once had with Mitsubishi. In 2007, 1.9 million of them were constructed. Lee recalled that “Dr. Dieter Zetsche [leader of Mercedes-Benz] said that he would like to partner with Hyundai for four-cylinder engines” at this year’s Beijing auto show.
I’m not sure we want to share our technology, Dr. Lee replied after giving this issue some thought.
Richer than the cream of mushroom soup on the table was the irony. Here was the man who created a straightforward four-cylinder engine to free his business from dependence on one of Japan’s secondary automakers, and he was now able to consider offers for an engine-sharing contract from the most prominent manufacturer in the world. How swiftly the automotive industry is changing. And how fast you come to see that Hyundai is a serious competitor.
Powertrain teams were transformed into EV development units by a South Korean carmaker.
The leading automaker in South Korea, Hyundai Motor Group, will stop creating new internal combustion engines in order to hasten its transition to an electric vehicle producer.
According to industry sources, Hyundai Motor Co., the bigger automaker in the group, shuttered its engine development division at its research and development facility on December 23. With around 12,000 researchers, the Namyang R&D Center in South Korea serves as the group’s brain.
In an email to staff, the newly hired R&D leader Park Chung-kook stated that the conversion to electrification is now unavoidable. “The invention of our own engine is an excellent accomplishment, but we must alter the system to foster future innovation based on the excellent resource from the past.”
The decision was made at a time when the global car industry is transitioning to EVs more quickly than anticipated. An internal combustion engine and transmission are not required for an electric vehicle (EV), which uses an electric motor as its power source.
The late Chung Ju-yung, founder of the Hyundai Group and the grandfather of the current chairman of the Hyundai Motor Group, Chung Euisun, commanded that the business produce its own engines, which led to the establishment of the engine development team in 1983.
The Alpha engine, which Hyundai Motor presented in 1991 as its first self-produced item, was followed by the Beta, Theta, and Nu engines, which helped the Hyundai Motor Group become one of the top five manufacturers in the world.
To improve its EV development business, however, Hyundai Motor shut down its engine development branch this month after approximately 40 years.
Hyundai Motor has transformed its powertrain teams into units for electrification development. The powertrain is responsible for transferring engine power to the wheels on the ground. Previously, the powertrain development units were under the EV development units.
Only a few of the researchers from the engine design unit are still working on modifying current engines because the majority have transferred to the electrification design center. The powertrain performance development center is evolving into an electrification performance development center, while the powertrain system development center is evolving into an electrification test center.
The electrification development division has also developed a battery development facility in order to obtain breakthrough battery technology, which is essential to EVs’ competitiveness. The facility has teams for developing battery performance, designing batteries, and other tasks.
Chang Jae-hoon, President & CEO of Hyundai Motor, recently declared that the company would move swiftly to become an EV manufacturer.
Given the rapidly expanding global EV market, Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp. announced an aim to sell 1.7 million EVs globally in 2026, up from 1 million units in 2025.
Compared to predictions made in 2020 that the environmentally friendly cars would account for half of new car sales in 2040, EVs are forecasted to rule the worldwide market by 2030.
The immediate challenge, according to Park, is to create cutting-edge automobiles that can rule the market in the future. “This restructuring will serve as a pivotal beginning point for future reform in the coming year.”
The R&D Center will also concentrate on battery and semiconductor raw materials as these areas are anticipated to increase along with the global EV and autonomous vehicle sectors.
To speed up EV development, the corporation combined project management teams and product integration development teams in the R&D center.
Over 1M automobiles from Hyundai and Kia are recalled due to engine problems.
Hyundai and Kia produce their own engines, and a recent manufacturing fault may result in the premature death of more than 1 million of those engines.
For the same problem, Hyundai and Kia made separate recall announcements. About 572,000 examples of the 2013-2014 Santa Fe and 2013-2014 Sonata are included in Hyundai’s recall. About 618,160 units of the 2011-2014 Optima, 2012-2014 Sorento, and 2011-2013 Sportage are included in Kia’s recall.
One of two engines—a 2.4-liter, direct-injected, naturally aspirated I4 or a 2.0-liter, turbocharged I4—powers each of the involved vehicles. The motors’ various production dates range from 2010 to 2014.
The problem is due to manufacturing mistakes. It appears that metal debris in the crankshaft oil passageways wasn’t properly wiped out, and a second mistake led to surface roughness in the crankpins (crank journals). The connecting rod bearings, which enable the connecting rods to move freely, may receive less oil as a result of these two issues.
The engine may begin to knock as the bearing ages from contacting a rough surface without lubrication. The engine may seize up and be doomed to the scrap heap if the driver doesn’t understand what’s wrong and the bearings fail. If the engine seizes while the car is moving, it also poses a safety risk.
In May, notice will be given to dealers and owners, the latter by first-class mail. Owners must visit the dealership so that mechanics can examine and perhaps replace the engine. Owners who have previously paid for repairs must follow certain procedures in order to receive reimbursement from Hyundai or Kia.