Kia Wants To Move EV Production To The USA

Ever since theInflation Reduction Actwas announced, automakers have been scrambling to get factories up and running in North America. This is because America currently relies heavily on China for lithium-ion battery production. To continue taking advantage of federal tax credits, automakers who aren't already producing EVs locally will be compelled to do so. Already, an assembler called Magna Steyr that builds cars for Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Toyota ishunting for a location in the United States.

The latest word is that Kia, which already builds several popular models like the Telluride in this country, is allegedly looking to move production of itsEV6electric crossover here as well.

Still a relatively fresh arrival, the Kia EV6 is currently assembled at the Hwasung Plant in South Korea. That would rule it out of contention for EV tax credits due to its foreign assembly. The last thing Kia wants is to hand competitors any advantage, and that's whyReutersis reporting that the automaker will begin building EVs in the USA from 2024. The publication cited information from the South Korean newspaper calledMaeil Businessand the TV channelSBSthat came from an unidentified auto industry source.

Of course, Kia's plans often align with those of its parent company, Hyundai. As with Kia, Hyundai faces losing customers if it doesn't move production of EVs like the Ioniq 5 to the USA, something it isalready working on remedying.