Hyundai builds 100 millionth vehicle after 57 years
10/02/2024 09:00 PM
The 100 millionth vehicle from the Hyundai Motor Group – an Ioniq 5 N Line electric car – has been built at the company’s first factory.
Hyundai Motor Company has built its 100 millionth vehicle with the milestone achieved 57 years after the company was founded in 1967.
The first vehicle built beyond this milestone by Hyundai was an Ioniq 5 N Line electric car, which was delivered directly to its customer at the company's Ulsan Plant in South Korea during a ceremony to mark the achievement.
Opened in 1968, the Ulsan Plant is considered the “birthplace of the development of the Korean automobile industry”, and it was home to Korea's first mass-produced vehicle, the Pony, in 1975 after Hyundai initially made Ford Cortinas for the domestic market.
Today, the Ulsan Plant – which has grown to include five independent manufacturing plants, engine and transmission plans, an export shipment dock, and a quality control centre – builds several Hyundai models, including the Kona, Ioniq 5, Tucson, Santa Fe, Palisade, i30 Sedan, Venue, Staria, and Nexo.
The entire Genesis line-up – G70, G80, G90, GV60, GV70 and GV80 – is also manufactured at the Ulsan Plant.
Outside of South Korea, the Hyundai Motor Company operates manufacturing plants in the Czech Republic, Turkey, China, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Brazil, and the United States.
While it took Hyundai 46 years to build 50 million vehicles – with that milestone achieved in 2013 – it has taken just 11 years for the company to double that number to 100 million.
"Reaching global cumulative production of 100 million vehicles is a meaningful milestone that was possible thanks to our customers around the world who have chosen and supported Hyundai Motor since the very beginning," said Hyundai Motor Company president and CEO Jaehoon Chang.
"Taking on bold challenges and being in constant pursuit of innovation has enabled us to achieve rapid growth and will empower us to take 'one step further' toward another 100 million units as a mobility game changer."
The Hyundai Motor Group – which also includes Kia – was the world's third-largest car company both in terms of sales and production in 2023, behind Toyota and the Volkswagen Group.
In 1986, Hyundai was introduced in Australia by Alan Bond's Bond Motor Sales with the first-generation Excel, which was sold with a $9990 price tag and went on to become the nation's best-selling car in June 1998 when it outpaced the locally-made Holden Commodore.
Hyundai Motor Company Australia became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group in 2003, and sold its one-millionth vehicle in 2012 – an ix35 SUV – at John Hughes Hyundai in Perth, which delivered the very first Hyundai in Australia back in 1986.
In 2023, Hyundai Australia delivered its two-millionth vehicle, a white 2.0-litre Kona.
MORE: Australia's most popular small car of the 1990s changed Hyundai forever
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