The manufacturing group that houses Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motor Co. has big plans for 2012. Hyundai Motor Group is planning an investment of $12.2 billion across twelve months. Compared to 2011, this new year’s investment is 15.6 percent larger and all of it will be put into facilities and research and development. There will be a concentration towards the company’s home in South Korea, but the U.S. market won’t be ignored. After all, Hyundai and Kia had just a 30-day supply on American soil in December meaning that cars such as the new Optima and Sonata are rather popular.
According to an Automotive News article, the investment will be split into two parts: one for facilities and one for r&d. In order to increase the brand’s hold on the eco-friendly market, approximately $4.4 billion will be put into r&d for new technology and models. The rest, about $7.9 billion, will be dived out to assembly plants. The main facilities in South Korea could get up to $2.6 billion of that money, to perhaps take some stress off of the U.S. plants which are operating near or at capacity.
Source: AutomotiveNews.com
