Details of Hyundai's Ann Arbor area expansion may be revealed at Detroit auto show
Korean automaker Hyundai may reveal details of its proposed expansion in Superior Township at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reported.
Hyundai employs about 170 people at its technical center on Geddes Road in Superior Township.
File photo | AnnArbor.com
AnnArbor.com reported in October that Hyundai was exploring a $20 million expansion of its technical center that would involve at least 50 new jobs. Superior Township is setting up a Local Development Finance Authority (LDFA) — which can be set up to capture tax dollars for economic development purposes — to help address electrical transmission problems at Hyundai's operation.
The company told officials behind the scenes that it would not locate the expansion in the Ann Arbor area unless it could rectify the electrical problems at the facility in Superior Township.
The Free Press reported that Hyundai plans to participate in a press event at the Detroit auto show in January with the Michigan Economic Development Corp., which is working with Ann Arbor SPARK to assist Hyundai during the expansion process.
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Comments
braggslaw
Sat, Dec 24, 2011 : 4:50 p.m.
If Hyundai wants to be a player in North America it needs a facility to homologate vehicles for the North American market. A few 100 people is nothing. I want a thousand with "real" engineering in North America.
wereintroubl
Tue, Dec 27, 2011 : 11:11 p.m.
@redwingshero I am glad that your company is doing well. It would be interesting to see exactly the value amount of parts that Michigan manufacturers provide the transplants. Heaven knows we need a revival of manufacturing in this state. And that was kind of the jist of my post. Michigan should be targeting the $1 billion investments like the states in the south do, not relatively small incremental investments in order for the politicians to pat themselves on the back for. Regarding Chrysler, there is a demand for full-time engineers. There are about 98 openings now on Chrysler's web site for engineers.
redwingshero
Tue, Dec 27, 2011 : 2:46 p.m.
@wereintroubl, Those engineers that you claim Chrysler is hiring, they are not full-time employees. They are contract engineers brought in by a third -party company. So news organizations claiming they are "hiring" 'x' number of engineeers a month is bogus.
redwingshero
Tue, Dec 27, 2011 : 2:39 p.m.
You might be interested to know that Hyundai sources many components for its vehicles in the U.S. and in Michigan. My company makes quite a few powertrain components for Hyundai right here in Michigan that goes into many of their vehicles. Just because Hyundai has their manufacturing plants in the southern U.S., doesn't make them a bad company or bad vehicles. More manufacturing in the U.S. is good for the long term. Expansion of their facilities in the U.S., is still good for their suppliers in Michigan. Better for my company that they keep growing (as well as the Detroit 3 as well) It's not like Hyundai hasn't put big monery on the table before: May 05' $1.6 billion in Montgomery, AL plant May 10' $150 million in West Point, GA plant Kia (Hyundai) Nov 09' $1.0 billion in West Point Facility. Their product offerings have come quite a long way, but I'm just a Ford guy personally.
wereintroubl
Sun, Dec 25, 2011 : 7:07 a.m.
For all intents and purposes, $20 million is nothing as far as investment in automotive especially for a multi-billion dollar company like Hyundai. The average new dealership costs about that much. In fact, the SHELL of Chrysler's new body shop in Sterling Heights cost $160 million. Regarding jobs, Chrysler has been hiring about 50 engineers a month since late 2009. I feel this is just more PR speak on the part of Hyundai and Snyder. If Hyundai wants to really do something they need to build a plant in this state.
shepard145
Sat, Dec 24, 2011 : 4:29 p.m.
The arrogant dimwits had no idea what was involved in getting this sub station built so at the last minute when it looked like the building would be completed without power, they rammed through the sub station you see - complete with short cuts that have plagued them with dirty power ever since. While their designs have made huge improvements, I would never buy one of their cars. This is a very strange company - judge them by what you see rather then by what they say.
wereintroubl
Sun, Dec 25, 2011 : 7:04 a.m.
I'm with you. Huyndai is very overrated. A decent car, but I have not been overly impressed at the ones I was forced to rent.
Cash
Sat, Dec 24, 2011 : 3:52 p.m.
Well I'm a little tired the power problems in Superior Township as well. But wouldn't you think that DTE should have been on top of this all along? Why do I fear that Superior Township taxpayers will have to fork out more money besides their DTE bill to get dependable power to their homes again? Also I wonder how many of the Hyundai employees are Superior Township residents. Just curious.