Hyundai Plans to Build $1-Billion Plant in U.S.

SEOUL — Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest auto maker, said Sunday that it plans to invest more than $1 billion to build its first plant in the U.S.

The car maker is planning a U.S. plant capable of producing 300,000 vehicles a year and expects to begin production in 2003, Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong Koo said at the Paris car show last week, according to a spokesman.

The car maker had not yet selected a site.

Hyundai Motor has spent a decade trying to raise its reputation in the U.S., including offering a five-year, 60,000-mile “bumper-to-bumper” warranty and a 10-year, 100,000-mile engine and transmission warranty.

In the U.S., Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. will sell a combined 390,000 vehicles this year. Hyundai Motor said sales of the unit in the U.S. alone should rise 20% next year to 288,000.