South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group said Wednesday it has held a groundbreaking ceremony for its dedicated electric vehicle plant in the United States as it seeks to make a presence in the North American EV market.

Hyundai Motor Group's Chairman Euisun Chung attended the ceremony held in Bryan County, Georgia where the plant named Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America will be built, the company said in a statement.

Chung said Hyundai and the state of Georgia will make HMGMA into a "unrivaled world-class" EV manufacturing facility and Governor Brian Kemp said he expects Hyundai's investment will have a positive impact on both sides, it said.

Hyundai said it will start construction on the 300,000-unit-a-year EV facility in the first half of next year with a goal of commencing production in the first half of 2025.

The facility will produce electric models for Hyundai Motor Co., including its luxury brand Genesis as well as other models for its smaller affiliate Kia Corp. The new U.S. plant will be located near existing Hyundai and Kia plants in Alabama and Georgia, respectively, the statement said.

Hyundai and Kia, which together form the world's fifth-biggest carmaker, aim to sell 3.23 million EVs, including 840,000 units in the U.S., in 2030 that will account for 12 percent of the global EV market. Their share stood at 5 percent last year.

Hyundai's EV sales figures include Genesis models.

Hyundai said it could start producing the all-electric version of the Genesis GV70 SUV at its Alabama plant from late this year but the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 will be produced at their domestic plants for export.

Hyundai plans to roll out 17 EV models by 2030, including six Genesis models, with Kia scheduled to release 14 EVs by 2027.

Given increasing local demand for their EV models, the group expects its EV sales will grow sharply once the EV plant is completed.

On top of the EV plant, Hyundai Motor Group will partner with a global car battery maker to build a battery cell plant near HMGMA, the statement said without elaborating.

In May, Hyundai announced it will invest $5.54 billion to build a dedicated EV and car battery plant in Georgia to solidify its electrification push in the world's most important automobile market.

The company once considered speeding up the plant's construction later this year due to a new US law excluding EVs built outside North America from tax credits. Hyundai has no plant in Canada. (Yonhap)