José Muñoz, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, speaks during a media tour and a large inauguration at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, on March 26, 2025, in Ellabell, GA.
Mike stewart | AP
New York – Hyundai engine The aggressive growth plans reinforced on Thursday until the end of the decade, despite reducing their profits for the year due to rates.
The new objectives require an operating profit margin this year between 6% and 7%, below 7% to 8%, and an increase in income of between 5% and 6%, an increase of 2 percentage points, compared to 175.2 billion South Korean profits (US $ 12.7 billion) in 2024.
South Korea's automobile manufacturer reviewed its financial objectives on Thursday before CEO investors day in New York City. It is the first time that the company organizes the event outside of South Korea, as well as the first time, the CEO José Muñoz, who was promoted to superior work in the car manufacturer as of this year, directed the meeting.
Together with the review of financial objectives, the third largest car manufacturer in the world reconfirmed its ambitious growth plans that include the increase in annual sales to 5.55 million by 2030. These results would mark an increase of approximately 34% of its global sales last year of 4.14 million units.
Muñoz opened the meeting discussing the company's expansion plans, largely fed by the United States, which called the “growth engine” for the automation manufacturer. Hyundai is currently in the process of investing $ 26 billion from 2025 to 2028 to expand its operations in the United States.
“It is not just the mitigation of rates, it is about building the most advanced and efficient manufacturing ecosystem in the automotive industry,” he said during the event, he added that the United States is its greatest opportunity to expand localized manufacturing.
Hyundai aims to more than 80% of its sales of American vehicles occur locally by 2030. That is compared to approximately 40% today. It is expected to include a medium truck developed by Hyundai, as well as potentially a more resistant SUV that the company currently offers, Muñoz said on Thursday.
“I think it's a long time,” Muñoz told journalists after the event, calling him “a great opportunity.”
The CEO investor event is happening at an inopportune for the company, as well as the relations between the United States and South Korea.
A masked federal agent who used a national security investigation vest a site during a raid where around 300 South Koreans were between 475 people arrested on the site of a $ 4.3 billion project per Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution to build batteries for electric cars in Ellabell, Georgia, on September 4, 2025 of 2025 in a video still taken from a video.
USA. Immigration and Customs Enf | Through Reuters
The New York meeting occurs weeks after hundreds of workers were arrested during an immigration raid at a joint property battery plant between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution in Georgia.
According to American immigration officials, Georgia, around 475 workers, including more than 300 South Koreans, were arrested in the raid on September 4 at the plant in Ellabell, Georgia. Many workers who were arrested returned home through a charted plane after discussions between South Korea and US officials.
Muñoz confirmed Thursday that the detainees worked for suppliers, without Hyundai employees being arrested.
The raid, which was the largest operation of a single site in the history of the Department of National Security of the United States, was carried out on suspicions about “illegal” visas or the state of immigration of workers on the site, US officials said.
At the beginning of Thursday's meeting, Muñoz expressed “our sincere empathy” by workers and their families that were affected by the raid. He said that the United States and South Korea can work together to solve the problem and continue the healthy relationship between the two countries.
“As our executive president said last week, we hope that the United States and Korea can work in mutually beneficial solutions for short -term business trips, especially for their specialized technical experience,” Muñoz said.
His comments about visas echoed those of Bob Lee, American president of LG Energy Solution. Lee said Monday that it can be the “positive” of all this and expressed his optimism that the company could avoid such actions in the future.
“We are very supported by this and we are cautiously optimistic that this type of thing will not happen again,” Lee said at a conference of Automotive Research Center in Detroit.
