Kia will put $200 million into its West Point, Georgia, facility to begin production of an electric-powered SUV, the automaker announced Wednesday.
The project will require a facility expansion and an additional 200 workers to build its large EV9 vehicle beginning in early 2024, Kia said. Currently, the facility southwest of Atlanta produces 340,000 vehicles a year, including Telluride, Sorrento and Sportage SUVs and K5 sedans.
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As of 2021, Kia had 2,700 employees at the plant.
Hyundai Motor Group, Kia’s parent company, is building a $5.5 billion plant to assemble electric vehicles and batteries in Ellabell, Georgia, near Savannah. The company also invested $300 million in its Montgomery, Alabama, plant to begin making electric vehicles there, starting with the Genesis Electrified GV70 SUV. Hyundai also 200 hired additional workers for the Alabama investment.
Kia’s EV9 will include three rows of seating. The company began delivering EV9s to customers in South Korea last month.
"The EV9 has the potential to be another change catalyst for Kia," Sean Yoon, Kia's CEO, said in a statement.
"This will be the most innovative vehicle that we have ever built and will be a standout in the EV market and on the road," he added.
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The investment comes even as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Hyundai complain that federal electric vehicle tax credits are unfair to the South Korean manufacturer because its vehicles are only eligible if they are leased. The domestic content standards of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is pumping billions into electric vehicle subsidies, make tax incentives on electric vehicle purchases available only when the vehicle, the battery, and key raw materials in the battery are all made in the United States.
Georgia has been a top beneficiary of a nationwide electric vehicle investment boom, with more than 40 electric vehicle-related projects since 2020 pledging $22.9 billion of investment and 28,600 jobs in the state.
According to the Kia website, Georgia will pay to train workers for the Kia expansion, with starting pay for production workers beginning at a salary of $38,000 a year. The jobs will also come with pay raises and extra pay for working evening shifts.
With the completion of the project, Kia could qualify for $1.75 million in state income tax credits at $1,750 per job over five years, as long as workers make at least $31,300 a year.
Kia got more than $450 million in incentives for its plant in West Point, which opened in 2010. West Point’s financial statements show that in 2019, Kia, its affiliates and suppliers were receiving $2.8 million in property tax breaks from the city alone.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
