Hyundai redirects Genesis GV70 production from Alabama to South Korea amid US sales surge

Genesis, the luxury division of Hyundai Motor Group, is temporarily suspending its U.S. assembly line as it relocates the GV70 SUV to the group’s Ulsan complex in South Korea. Ted Mengiste, chief operating officer of Genesis Motor North America, explained that Hyundai’s unprecedented U.S. sales—450,568 vehicles in the first half of 2026—have saturated capacity at the Montgomery, Alabama plant, prompting the move. The Alabama facility, which can build 400,000 cars a year, produced fewer than 23,000 GV70s, a key model that sold 33,876 units in 2025.

Hyundai CEO José Muñoz reiterated the “produce where you sell” principle but said low-volume vehicles often require centralized production. Genesis’s upcoming all-electric GV90 will also be built in Korea and is slated for U.S. dealers in early 2027. Mengiste emphasized that Genesis will eventually restore a U.S. footprint, but space had to be freed for Hyundai’s expanding output.