Are Kia And Hyundai Cars Made In The Same Factory?

The situation behind Hyundai and Kia's manufacturing processes is complicated. While Hyundai owns Kia and the two generally share the vehicle platforms that their cars, SUVs, and other vehicles are based on, most of the actual production takes place in dedicated factories that are devoted to the production of either Kia or Hyundai vehicles. Most Kia factories produce only Kia vehicles, and most Hyundai factories produce only Hyundai vehicles.

This is true of the two companies' Korean factories in their home country. Kias are produced in the Hwasung, Gwangju, Sohari, and Seosan plants, while Hyundais are made at Ulsan, Asan, and Jeonju. This practice extends to the U.S., where Kia has a plant in Georgia and Hyundai builds theirs in Alabama. In Europe, Kia makes their cars in Slovakia, while Hyundai makes theirs in the Czech Republic. Both have factories in India, with Kia's located in Anantapur and Hyundai's two near Chennai.

In China, Kia has three joint-venture factories in Yancheng. Hyundai previously had five factories in China, one in Chongqing, three in Beijing, and one in Changzhou, but has had to sell the Chongqing plant and one in Beijing to counter a drastic sales drop caused by a diplomatic controversy between the Chinese and Korean governments. Another factor is the growth of inexpensive Chinese-made New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) flooding the Chinese market, so here's an explanation of why Chinese cars are so cheap. In other markets, only Kia has a factory in Mexico, while only Hyundai has plants in Turkey, Brazil, Singapore, and Indonesia. 

There are several places where both Kias and Hyundais are made. One of these is in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the two brands share a facility. Another is the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA), which happens to be the Hyundai Motor Group's first factory dedicated to the mass production of electrified vehicles. Located near Savannah, Georgia, the Metaplant is intended to be a robot-assisted, human-centered workplace that can produce over 500,000 vehicles per year. The Metaplant started out producing the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which our reviewer found to be a cool EV in search of a plug. The Metaplant later added the Ioniq 9 electric vehicle (EV) to its production. As production ramps up over time, the Metaplant will add both Kia and Genesis EV models. Our first drive of the 2026 Genesis GV70 showed that it's the upgrades that matter.

Aside from the factories where vehicles are produced, there are other facilities that Kia and Hyundai share the use of. These include the company's R&D centers, which are located in Namyang and Mabuk, South Korea. There is also one in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the U.S. that is called the Hyundai America Technical Center, Inc. (HATCI). This is the Hyundai Motor Group's technology, engineering, and design organization for North America, which is used by both Kia and Hyundai.