Hyundai Motor chief visits U.S. amid new tax break law

yundai Motor Group said Wednesday its Chairman Chung Euisun is visiting the United States amid growing concerns over a new U.S. law excluding electric vehicles (EVs) built outside the U.S. from tax breaks.

The South Korean carmaker didn’t provide any details about Chung’s U.S. schedule.

Chung is expected to meet U.S. government officials and business leaders to ask them to “help improve an unreasonable part” of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), auto industry officials said.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the US$430 billion bill, which would allow up to $7,500 of tax subsidies only for EVs assembled in the U.S.

The passage of the IRA comes months after Hyundai Motor announced its plan to invest $5.54 billion to start construction on a 300,000-unit-a-year EV plant in Georgia in January 2023 and begin production in the first half of 2025.

In response, Hyundai Motor Co., the main affiliate of the group, is considering speeding up the construction of its dedicated electric vehicle (EV) plant in the U.S., industry sources familiar with the matter told Yonhap News Agency.

Hyundai Motor will consider starting construction of its US$5.54 billion EV and car battery plant in Georgia later this year, under a goal of commencing production in the second half of 2024.

It was originally planning to start construction on the 300,000-unit-a-year U.S. EV facility in January 2023 and begin production in the first half of 2025.

The IRA is expected to deal a blow to Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Corp., which manufacture all of their EVs at home.

Hyundai Motor plans to roll out 17 EV models by 2030, including six Genesis models, with Kia scheduled to release 14 EVs by 2027.

Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world’s fifth-biggest carmaker, aim to sell 3.23 million EVs.