Area officials await announcement on possibility of Hyundai expansion

Hyundai Motor Manufactur­ing Alabama may announce an ex­pansion soon, economic develop­ment officials said Wednesday.

Alabama Development Office Director Seth Hammett men­tioned the Montgomery Hyundai plant in an example of the state's strong automotive sector Wednes­day while speaking to several hun­dred at an Alabama State Univer­sity's Bridge Builders breakfast.

"We hope that in a few days we will have some news about further expansion," Hammett said.

Following his presentation, Hammett said that he couldn't discuss what Hyundai may be planning and said it was only a possibility.

"They may have some an­nouncement coming up," he said.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said an announcement could come in two weeks.

"We are working toward having some good news regarding Hyundai in the near future," he said.

He also said that because of a confidentiality agreement with the automaker, he couldn't discuss the details of any potential expansion.

Robert Burns, a local Hyundai spokesman, said Wednesday that he didn't have any information about a possible expansion.

Earlier this year, John Krafcik, Hyundai Motor America CEO, said the company may decide next year to build a new U.S. plant. That prompted Montgomery and Alabama economic officials to say they would welcome and support a new or expanded facility.

The 2-million-square-foot Montgomery plant occupies about 539 of the 1,744 acres of land the company owns.

The 2,500-employee plant is Hyundai's only American plant, though its Santa Fe is built at a Kia plant in Georgia.

The Montgomery plant has been working at capacity for several months. It runs two 10-hour shifts five days a week and one Saturday shift each week. In March, the facility beat its previous production records by making 31,730 Sonatas and Elantras. But even that has not been enough to meet demand in North America. The automaker imported 9,000 Elantras from Korea in March.

A delegation of about 20 business and civic leaders from around the city will be going to Korea later this month for a "familiarization" trip, said Randall George, president of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce.

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