이 기사는 2021년 11월 08일 07시42분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor is accelerating a push to produce electric vehicles in its US plant, with the first mass production expected to start as early as next year, in a move to gain the upper hand over competitors in the fast-growing US electric car market under the Biden administration.

Hyundai Motor’s management discussed the production of electric vehicle models in the US with its labor union earlier this month, according to industry sources.

The discussions are said to be at a very preliminary stage with no specifics. Under the agreement between the company’s management and labor union, the South Korean automaker needs the consent of its labor union to make the same models that are produced in domestic factories.

It has been widely predicted that Hyundai Motor will produce electric vehicles locally in the US. “We are considering a range of options to strengthen our competitiveness in the US electric vehicle market, which is poised to benefit from the Biden administration’s electric vehicle–friendly policies,” Yun Tae-sik, head of Hyundai Motor’s investor relations team, said during a third-quarter earnings call.

The US is one of the three largest electric vehicle markets in the world along with Europe and China. Hyundai Motor’s plant in Alabama has a capacity to produce up to 399,500 vehicles per year.

Hyundai Motor has a strong position in the US market, with its US car sales in October increasing by 6.2% year-on-year to 62,061 despite global chip shortages. After taking its subsidiary Kia’s sales of 52,067 into account, the automaker sold 114,128 cars in the US in the month, only a 0.4% decrease from a year earlier.

This contrasts with a significant decline posted by its rivals. US sales of Toyota, Honda and Subaru in October fell by 28.6%, 23.5% and 40%, respectively, year-on-year, reducing the total US car sales by approximately 20%. This means Hyundai Motor probably has seen its market share rise.

On a cumulative basis, Hyundai Motor’s car sales in the US also increased by 29.3% to 682,016 in the first 10 months of 2021. Its share in the US market has grown to nearly 6% this year from the upper 3% early last year.

The company’s strong growth in sales was largely driven by environmentally-friendly cars – such as electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles – whose sales rose by 262.7% to 7,330 in October, and by 221.8% to 11,466 including Kia’s models.

Hyundai Motor appears to be seeking to maintain the current positive momentum and further expand its share in the US market. In September, it pledged to increase sales of its electrified models to 80% of the total by 2040.

In addition, the company’s push to expand its US presence could be propelled by US President Joe Biden’s proposal to provide tax credits for electric vehicles made in the country.

Hyundai Motor Group chairman Chung Eui-sun recently visited the US, Europe and Indonesia, a move seen by most observers as part of efforts to diversify its electric vehicle production facilities.

During his visit to Indonesia, Chung met with President Joko Widodo. Hyundai Motor is set to produce electric vehicles in its plant there which will ready for operations by early next year at the latest.

“We are considering producing electric vehicles locally in the US, but no details have been finalized yet,” a Hyundai Motor official said. (Reporting by Su-jin Yoo)