Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama

MY15 Hyundai SonataAs you’re aware, we review many vehicles here at Gunaxin, and we’re often traveling to exotic locations to experience the latest that manufacturers have to offer. Recently we were invited someplace we didn’t expect, Montgomery, Alabama. It turns out that Hyundai has a manufacturing plant in Montgomery and we were provided an opportunity to see the 2015 Hyundai Sonata being built right in front of us. It was our first auto plant tour, and lucky for us, their facility is one of the most advanced in the world.

The $1.7 billion plant is the company’s first U.S. manufacturing facility and employs more than 3,000 people with high-paying jobs and full benefits. The 2-million square-foot manufacturing plant resides on 1,744 acres of land and includes a stamping facility, paint shop, vehicle assembly shop, a two-mile test track and two engine shops. In May 2005, the facility marked the official start of production with its first saleable 2006 Sonata. The plant currently assembles Sonata and Elantra sedans. HMMA is capable of producing up to 399,500 vehicles per year at full capacity.

Robots weld the steel body together.

Robots weld the steel body together.

Every Hyundai vehicle goes from sheet metal to street-legal in exactly 19 hours flat. The plant is currently operating three shifts, in order to keep up with the demand for Hyundai vehicles. We were impressed with the technology utilized in the plant, specifically how it made the work of employees easier. Workers rotate tasks every few hours so they can stay fresh, engaged, and healthy. Many of them waved to us on our tour, despite the fact that they had only 48 seconds to complete their task before the next car came down the line.

Engine Marriage

Engine Marriage

Free plant tours are offered several times per week, and if you’re ever in the area, we highly recommend it. We took some cell phone shots from the tram, but they came out about as well as you would expect, so we’ve selected some of our favorite images from the press materials to share with you here.

We’ll have our full review of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata later this week, but we thought it was important to share the story of how it is built first. That story starts and ends with the people…