Hyundai Motor Group’s Metaplant America in Savannah, Georgia, just hit three firsts simultaneously: its first Kia, its first hybrid, and its third overall vehicle model. The 2027 Kia Sportage Hybrid started production on June 2, joining the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 9 electric vehicles already rolling off that line.
Governor Brian Kemp rode the first unit to the stage on an Autonomous Mobile Robot, which tells you everything about the kind of factory Hyundai Motor Group built here. The plant was designed from scratch to handle up to 10 different vehicles across multiple powertrains — electric, hybrid, and presumably whatever comes next.
That flexibility is the real story. While other automakers scramble to retool legacy plants for electrification, HMGMA was purpose-built to switch between powertrains with what the company calls “minimal modifications.” The Sportage Hybrid slotted in alongside pure EVs without breaking stride.
Kia now commands up to 550,000 units of annual production capacity across two Georgia facilities. The West Point plant, running for nearly two decades, already builds the Telluride, EV9, EV6, and gas-powered Sportage and Sorento variants. West Point employs over 3,200 workers, and HMGMA adds another 2,000, most of them Georgian.
Sean Yoon, president and CEO of Kia North America, called Metaplant “our second major investment in Georgia” and a “clear testament to our confidence in this state’s future as an automotive powerhouse.” He noted that the Sportage Hybrid quickly became one of Kia’s highest-volume models after its update last year.
That volume claim matters. The compact SUV segment remains the most brutally competitive space in the American market, and hybrid versions of popular nameplates are printing money right now. Toyota’s RAV4 Hybrid has been a juggernaut for years, and Honda’s CR-V Hybrid is surging. Kia bringing Sportage Hybrid production stateside — rather than importing it — signals both demand confidence and a desire to dodge tariff exposure.
About 200 of the plant’s workers, dubbed “Meta Pros,” attended the celebration. Many had traveled to Kia’s West Point plant and facilities in South Korea to learn Sportage Hybrid production techniques before the launch. That kind of cross-training investment isn’t cheap, and it suggests HMGMA expects this model to anchor its hybrid output for the foreseeable future.
The broader Hyundai Motor Group strategy is becoming unmistakable. Rather than betting everything on a single powertrain future, the group is hedging across EVs, hybrids, and combustion — all under one roof, in one state, with one flexible manufacturing architecture. Genesis models could follow, though future plans remain under wraps.
Georgia, meanwhile, keeps cementing its position as the Southeast’s auto manufacturing hub. Kemp has made these partnerships a centerpiece of his economic agenda, and the numbers back him up. Two Kia-affiliated plants, over 5,200 jobs, and a half-million-unit production ceiling give the state genuine scale.
Kia didn’t announce pricing or specific trim details for the 2027 Sportage Hybrid. The company also stayed quiet on what model number four at Metaplant might be, saying only that the plant can handle up to 10 vehicles. That’s a lot of empty slots and a lot of optionality.
For now, the message is simple: Kia is building hybrids where its EVs are built, on the same line, in the same facility, with the same workforce. That’s not a pivot away from electrification. It’s an acknowledgment that the American market wants choices — and that the automaker willing to build all of them locally holds the advantage.
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