Kentucky And Alabama Two Finalists For First Hyundai U.S. Manufacturing Plant

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Feb. 25 -- Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) announced today that it is beginning negotiations immediately in the final phase of its process to select the site for its first automobile assembly plant in the United States. After two years of preliminary study and nearly one year of detailed analysis, HMC has decided that either Montgomery, Alabama or Glendale, Kentucky will provide it with the best location. HMC expects to announce its final site selection this spring.

HMC officials have been very impressed by and are very grateful to each state and site that was initially reviewed, and HMC is confident that it could have established a successful U.S. facility on any of the various sites that it considered. Thus, narrowing the field to only two sites was very difficult. Each site offered many strengths, but HMC officials feel these two locations offer the best opportunity.

The final decision will be based on literally hundreds of tangible and intangible factors. Among the criteria that distinguished Kentucky and Alabama were that these communities offer a high-quality physical site, with good shape and geological characteristics. They both also offer a mature yet growing automotive industry, which will provide both suppliers and workers with the automotive orientation and stability important to HMC's success. Both Alabama and Kentucky have experience with successfully assimilating multiple auto assembly plants as well as plants owned by non-U.S. companies, and that expertise will be valuable to HMC in its first U.S. project.