Hyundai to create new US affiliate after $10.5 bn investment pledge

Hyundai Motor Group said on Thursday it is setting up a new investment affiliate in the US, in a follow-up to its pledge to invest $10.5 billion in the world's largest economy.

The new affiliate, tentatively named HMG Global, will be established in Delaware state in the US and funded by Hyundai's three flagship arms -- Hyundai Motor, Kia and Hyundai Mobis, according to regulatory filings posted by the companies.

"The establishment of the new affiliate will enable us to more quickly invest in companies with new technologies in the United States, home to many innovative companies, and we are expected to manage them efficiently," the group said.

Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia will together inject a combined $578 million in the new American unit, reports Yonhap news agency.

Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Mobis, the auto parts-making affiliate, will also transfer in kind their controlling shares in Boston Dynamics, a US robotics company Hyundai acquired two years ago, to the new US affiliate.

Hyundai Motor will thereby own 49.5 per cent in the new affiliate, with Kia owning 30.5 per cent and Hyundai Mobis' share at 20.5 per cent.

The new US affiliate is expected to be launched around August following regulatory approval.

The move came as a follow-up to Hyundai's announcement in late May it will spend $5.5 billion to build electric vehicle and battery cell plants in Georgia.

The announcement was made while US President Joe Biden was visiting South Korea for a summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Hyundai Motor Group Chair Euisun Chung, who met one-on-one with Biden in Seoul in May, pledged an additional $5 billion investment in the US market.

--IANS

na/