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ELLABELL, Ga. (AP) 鈥� Hyundai celebrated the opening of its new $7.6 billion electric vehicle factory in Georgia on Wednesday by announcing plans to expand its production capacity by two-thirds to a total of 500,000 vehicles per year.

The news came as President Donald Trump planned to announce tariffs on auto imports at the White House. Hyundai will be spared from those tariffs on its U.S.-made vehicles. Trump praised the South Korean automaker on Monday, saying its American investments are 鈥渁 clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work.鈥�

Hyundai began producing EVs just shy of six months ago at its sprawling manufacturing plant in southeast Georgia. More than 1,200 people are working there.

With employees in blue shirts filling bleachers behind him Wednesday, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chairman Euisun Chung said the company plans to increase the plant’s capacity from 300,000 vehicles per year to 500,000. He said it shows Hyundai has come to Georgia 鈥渢o stay, to invest and to grow.鈥�

鈥淪tanding here today, I can say I have never been more confident about building the future of mobility with America, in America,” Chung said.

Hyundai Motor Company CEO Jose Munoz said the Georgia expansion was 鈥渓ike building a new plant.鈥�

鈥淭his plant couldn鈥檛 come at a better time than now,鈥� Munoz told reporters, “because definitely all the cars that we would produce here are going to be exempted from any tariffs.鈥�

Hyundai employees worked the assembly line Wednesday alongside hundreds of robots that stamp sheets of steel into fenders and door panels, weld and paint auto bodies and even park finished vehicles awaiting their final inspections.

The plant that sprawls across 3,000 acres churns out a finished vehicle about once a minute. Its 1,200 workers are currently producing two electric SUV models 鈥� the Ioniq 5 and the larger Ioniq 9 set for release this spring.

The newly announced Georgia expansion is part of $21 billion in U.S. investments over the next three years that Hyundai announced at the White House with Trump on Monday. They also include a $5.8 billion steel mill in Louisiana to produce auto parts for Hyundai’s assembly plants in Georgia and Alabama.

Chung told Trump at the White House: 鈥淲e are really proud to stand with you and proud to build the future together.鈥�

Before the expansion was announced, Hyundai said it planned to employ 8,500 total workers at the Bryan County site, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Savannah. Two partners making batteries at the site are expected to add another 3,500 workers.

Hyundai hasn’t said how many additional workers would be needed to increase capacity by 200,000 vehicles per year.

During the first half of 2024, the Ioniq 5 was America鈥檚 second-best-selling electric vehicle not made by industry leader Tesla.

Hyundai took less than two years to start making EVs in Georgia after breaking ground in the fall of 2022. It was the largest economic development project the state had ever seen, and it came with a whopping $2.1 billion in tax breaks and other incentives from the state and local governments.

EVs accounted for 8.1% of new vehicle sales in the U.S. last year, up from 7.9% in 2023, according to Motorintelligence.com.