Hyundai to begin Elantra production at Alabama plant this fall

An all-new Hyundai Elantra will join its larger sibling, the Sonata, in production at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (HMMA) starting in late fall this year. This change, along with the recent move of the Santa Fe to a production facility in Georgia, will further increase Hyundai's overall U.S. production capacity, which was already producing over half of total U.S. sales volume.

"Hyundai's philosophy is to build our vehicles where we sell them, and with the addition of the Elantra to our U.S. production mix we now manufacture our three most popular models right here in the U.S.," said John Krafcik, president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America.

The all-new 2011 Elantra sedan will make its public debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show this November, while sales are scheduled to begin early next year. The new Elantra shares the same game-changing recipe of distinctive design and class-leading fuel economy that has made the 2011 Sonata the most shopped vehicle in the entire industry the last four months (source: Compete), and the sixth-best-selling vehicle in the industry in August.  

Sonata is the best-selling vehicle in Hyundai's U.S. lineup, with sales of 128,484 though the end of August, a 50 percent increase over the same period last year. Elantra sales through the same period of 90,960 are up 21 percent over the same period last year.

HMMA has consistently ranked as one of the highest-quality plants in Hyundai's worldwide operations and is an outstanding example of Hyundai's focused commitment to quality. This year Sonata was again ranked in the top-three in quality by the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study in the competitive mid-size sedan category. The HMMA-built Sonata was also recently awarded Auto Pacific's first-ever President's Award in recognition of its record-setting consumer performance in 48 categories ranging from the basics of comfort and convenience, to performance and environmental friendliness.

More than 1,200,000 vehicles have rolled off the HMMA assembly line since production began on May 20, 2005.

"We're thrilled to be adding another pillar of the Hyundai lineup to our production mix here at HMMA," said Ashley Frye, director of production, HMMA. "We've been extremely proud to build both Sonata and Santa Fe on our assembly line, both of which have been hugely successful models for Hyundai in the U.S. and we hope to carry that momentum with us as we embark on the new 2011 Elantra."

About Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Co. of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through almost 800 dealerships nationwide.

About Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, headquartered in Montgomery, Ala., is an independent manufacturing operation of Hyundai Motor Company, based in Seoul, Korea. HMMA currently produces the 2011 Sonata sedan. Hyundai cars and sport utility vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced by more than 900 Hyundai dealerships across North America.