( Autoinsidernews ) - Hyundai announced it would add a second engine plant at its assembly facility in Montgomery, Alabama, but there was no announcement what the engine plant would produce. With the current engine plant in Montgomery building Hyundai's V6 used in the Sonata and Santa Fe, we figured the plant would produce four-cylinder engines. Sixty to 70 percent of the Sonata sedans being built in Alabama are powered by four-cylinder engines that have been imported from Korea.
The new engine plant will build the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) 2.4L four-cylinder engine, which will be used in the Sonata and for use at Kia's new assembly plant in Georgia. The GEMA is an alliance of DaimlerChrysler, Mitsubishi and Hyundai, with the engines being used in various vehicles from each automaker, including the Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Dodge Caliber and Avenger, and the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer.
The plant will be able to build 300,000 engines annually - 200,000 a year in the first phase and another 100,000 annually at full production - and will employ 522 workers. Production is scheduled to begin in September 2008.
